Kurt Hummel and the Confusion of Phoenixes
by Army Of Elves
Summary: For years Kurt Hummel knew there was something different about himself, but could never identify what. When he's twelve he is told that he is a wizard and everything he thought he knew is turned upside down as he begins his magical education. When Kurt is sixteen he sransfers to Britain's most renowned magical school, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. *EVENTUAL KLAINE!
1. Power Outage

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Glee or Harry Potter!**

**A/N: This is kind of a crossover. It's predominantly focused on Kurt with a lot of Warbler action, some New Directions, and a few HP elements.**

**There are a few OCs in the first few chapters, but they don't play a very large role after. They're more of just placeholders where Glee and UP characters didn't fit the bill. Just so you know, I know some people hate them.**

* * *

_Prologue_

If one traveled a few miles outside of Cleveland, Ohio they would find acres upon acres of rolling fields and individually owned farms. In the very center of these fields is a very large building, the headquarters for some mysterious company, sitting there without so much as a Wal-Mart or a convenience store to keep it company.

For those who aren't in on the secret, if they were to step so much as a few hundred yards near it they would find themselves late for a very important appointment, or they suddenly couldn't think of anything they'd rather do more than stay as far away as possible.

As for the big business corporations and oil industry bosses who covet the land, the plans to monopolize it never make it further than the contractor who comes out to look at it.

The farmers and small families that own the land surrounding the place leave it be. They leave it alone because it leaves them alone. There's no obnoxious business agents or specialized salesmen bothering then every other week with a new scheme to take their property.

These simple people aren't so foolish to think it's out of respect or goodness of heart, it's something to do with the lone building. Nobody questions it. The only people who ever really speak of it are the mischievous locales, who jokingly spin tales of witchcraft.

They're not totally wrong.

While the place is like a very large magnet that repels those of the wrong kind of origin, it is an asset to those of a more secret nature.

If the right people were to come around, they would walk across the lot and _into_ the building where an average waiting room complete with an unlikable receptionist is. The absentminded receptionist would wave you through to the atrium on the left. Down below this average company is a secret city full of shops and venders, banks, anything you would expect to see in any given city. The only difference is the magic in the air, literally, it's a city built by wizards and witches.

This is why the non magic folk never see anybody ever entering the building that conceals the secret city. You see, fully grown Witches and Wizards don't have much need for mundane things such as doors and cars. They have long since replaced the typical muggle ways of transportation with magical means of travel, such as the floo network, apparation, and even the occasional flying carpet. Very few ever actually use the front door.

A hop, skip, and a jump to the left you would find the Ministry of Magic - or rather one of its subdivisions, this one is more like the local government office. There are several others like it around the country, in places like New York and Seattle, and then there is a main office where the big meetings are held and legislature gets passed. That is located directly below the Pentagon.

Inside the Ministry is yet another elevator. You take that one as far down as it will take you. There it stops in front of a long narrow corridor. At the end of it, to the right, is a very small room containing only two occupants.

The first, a man well into his fifties who has sat down there for a good part of his adult life, intently watching the screen before him. He is the department head. On the other side of the room resides a petite young woman at a makeshift desk. Together they make up the Department for the Improper Use of Magic.

This particular department is in charge of investigating the Midwestern United States for offences under the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery and the International Confederation of Wizards Statute of Secrecy. It is also where Animagus registration is posted, though unbeknownst to the department that duty will later be divided into a it's own separate division.

The department staff monitor a large screen all day waiting for the red lights to flash indicating illegal or simple irresponsible activity.

At this time a note is sent to the offender detailing actions to be taken by the Office and if need be, another is sent to a special squad to be dispatched to the location. That is the extent of their excitement.

The Improper Use of Magic Office only deals with offences that are more regulatory than criminal, as the latter would be dealt with by Hit Wizards or the Auror Office.

The department is rather small and unglamorous as it is a small cog on a very large machine. Much of the time the cog lays dormant, though a very important one it is when needed. Without little offices as them the Magical world would loose the secrecy it fights so hard to protect.

As happy as it would make the Department for the Improper Use of Magic to be further complimented and recognized, they are only but a page in this tale.

* * *

_Chapter 1_

_2002:_

_(Outside of Cleveland, Ohio; American Ministry of Magic - Subdivision C - Office: Department for the Improper Use of Magic)_

"Whoa! Tony get your ass over here now!" The Improper Use of Magic Department head exclaimed.

The petite young woman's head shot up out of her arms.

"What is it Benson?" She asked wearily.

"There was just a massive wave of magic that set the system off."

Tony's attention immediately snapped toward her co-worker. She whipped a notebook out of her pocket and flipped it open. Her hand hovered over the blank page ready to scrawl an address down.

Benson slapped his hand down on top of the monitor repeatedly. "These shitty instruments aren't picking up like they should!" Each word punctuated by a fist slamming against the machinery. "Stupid Magical Maintenance was screwing around in here last night. Must've messed something up." Benson grunted.

Tony jumped up and walked over to the instrument that resembled a muggle computer (it had once been, before it was charmed for the Ministry's purposes).

Tony groaned. "For fuck's sake! We're the God-damned Ministry of Magic! How are we supposed to keep an eye on these things if our crap's broken!"

"Calm down lassie," Said girl gave him an incredulous look as she watched him work on the equipment like a caveman.

Tony set out a long drawn out sigh. This was going to turn out bad. She composed her face into her 'professional' expression and spun around in her chair. "Before it went off the radar, where was it?"

"I dunno the exact location -"

"What was the general location?"

"In the Lima, Ohio area."

Tony swiftly jotted the place down.

"Well, I guess I'll just file it away for now." She sighed. "But we're screwed if we don't figure it out and they hear about this."

Slip ups while doing a job for the Ministry could not only get you fired without recommendations, but possibly tried for various crimes.

"It was likely nothing anyway."

Tony flipped the notepad closed and set it back in a desk drawer. "You didn't seem to think so when you were jumping and hollering." She answered flippantly.

"I was frightened. Now I got a clear head, I think it was prob'ly just some kids messin' around. Their parents'll chastise 'em."

Tony looked up from her desk. _Is he for real? _"You full well know that the closest wizards to Lima are in Westerville."

"Whatever." He waved his hand. The annoyed woman brushed past Benson on her way out to go speak with Magical Maintenance.

Benson called after her,"Make sure to file that town under a watch."

"Will do." She called back. "Keep an eye on the news, yeah?"

"You'd think she was my fucking superior the way she talks to me." Benson muttered. He pulled his coat around himself tighter and picked his newspaper up, continuing where he left off.

* * *

_(Lima, Ohio - Hummel Residence)_

"Damn." Burt Hummel muttered. "The whole power box is shot."

Burt stuck his screwdriver between his teeth and shined the flashlight over the smoking electrical transformer.

A crash of thunder sounded outside making the man start.

"Flash flood, and on Lizzie's funeral too." He sniffled.

Burt took a moment to close his eyes and let the feelings wash away with the rain. Once he was a little more composed he wiped his nose on the back of his shirt sleeve then got back to work.

Burt's little boy shrank back against the darkened staircase where he top tiptoed up. At the top he turned left where he went into his room and quietly closed the door. Once in his safe place he silently sobbed.

Kurt didn't mean to do that.

Then again, he never meant to do those things. The only difference now was that he didn't have a mother to tell him so, or tuck him in with a story after some strange occurrence. Now Elizabeth was six feet under in a beautiful cherry wood coffin. Kurt had kissed her cheek before they closed the casket, and then later stood mere feet away as they lowered her into the ground. When he and Burt arrived back home minutes ago was then that the power suddenly went out. Burt was under the impression that it was a short-circuit, but it wasn't, and Kurt knew that. He knew that _he_ somehow made it happen.

Usually when it happened it was because he was angry about something or upset when another kid messed with him at the park. He didn't expect his weirdness to lash out today. The only thing he felt all day was numb. It was on the car ride back home when it hit him that this was it. An overpowering feeling of sadness and despair had crashed over his tiny body. He felt dark. Then he was literally surrounded by it.

The only light in the house came from Burt's flashlight and the tiny candle glowing in Kurt's windowsill. An eerie wind rushed through the house and the little flame flickered and died.

* * *

**Department for the Improper Use of Magic, doesn't seem too legit. All the better for Kurt and the Warblers to break rules...**

**A/N: I've basically lined up the HP/Glee timelines. So if say Kurt were to meet Harry's children now, they'd be very young and the Golden Trio would be adults. Basically, I used my extreme canon-OCD and made this story as canon as I can make an AU with the limited information on the two fandoms I have.**

**Leave me a review and tell me what you think so far. Please and thank you!**


	2. Concerning Magic

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Glee or Harry Potter**

* * *

The day of Elizabeth's funeral will always remain the darkest day of the Hummel household, but things did eventually return to a somewhat normal state. Kurt and Burt found a new normal and became closer than ever. They relied on one another and looked to each other for comfort when things were down and they enjoyed the little things together.

So when things began to get _weird _Burt was at an utter loss.

When Elizabeth was still with them odd occurrences happened on occasion, but were generally forgotten or written off. Now they were alone and Burt had to find an explanation, though this was quickly forgotten. Once Kurt made it past elementary school, a lot of things were driven from Burt's mind when he was presented with another mystery: The many, many bruises that covered his boy's body.

In the past Kurt would always go straight to Burt when another kid called him a name or pushed him around. Burt would then try to solve the problem directly or they could go to a different playground. In middle school Kurt knew what they did to kids who 'tattled' and the teachers didn't do much anyway, so he learned to lie and said that he fell down or was playing rough. Burt was always suspicious of the answer, but he didn't push him.

Lucky for Kurt his 'weirdness' didn't often lash out, so no one ever learned his secret. Kurt obviously knew there was something different about himself, but it was difficult to explain these things to his seemingly oblivious father. He did try on several different occasions. They usually ended in his father nodding and then awkwardly patting Kurt on the back with an, "I know buddy". Kurt left every time very confused and frustrated.

One day when Kurt was twelve he finally had to come clean about the bullying. The school called Burt telling him that Kurt was being taken to the hospital after his arm was broken. Kurt admitted that it was Azimio Adams. When he got back home in a new cast he begged his dad to homeschool him. They had discussed the possibility of this a few times before, but with the garage and being a single dad they simply didn't have the time or money. This time faced with a broken, tearful Kurt Burt couldn't say no.

It was a struggle in the beginning. Burt had to cut back on hours at the shop in order to watch over his sons assignments. It took a month for him to trust Kurt enough to leave him alone to study. Before then he was taking Kurt to the shop until his shift was through and the evenings were spent hitting the books together.

Relief, though unknown at the time, came in the form of a fancy letter one morning. Burt opened the envelope assuming it was another college, sending out pamphlets about preparing your child for their future education. In a way it was. It claimed to be some sort of scholarship program that his son had been chosen for. It was quite vague and the only information it really gave was a date that a representative from the school would be visiting their home. He didn't have time to consider that the letter hadn't offered a website or requested a credit card number or donation. Burt thought it a hoax and tossed it right in the trash. Later Kurt would curiously fish it out of the garbage.

So for a week, only Kurt was anxiously awaiting _anyone's_ arrival.

The Hummel's lives would be forever changed when precisely a week later an official looking woman showed up at the doorstep. She was a petite woman who, although her stature, was intimidating. She had dark eyes and mousy brown hair that was tied up. Her clothes were decidedly her most interesting feature, while neat and complementary they were quite colorful. She gave off an air of resolute quirkiness.

She certainly my wasn't what Burt Hummel was expecting when he opened his door that bright Monday afternoon.

"Hello Mr. Hummel. My name is Antonia Wellington." She said holding out a hand for Burt to shake.

"Um, h-hello Miss -" He sputtered, quite taken aback by her sudden appearance. Before he could recover Antonia Wellington was pushing her way inside. Burt was so shocked that he opened the door wider to allow her entrance.

"I am here on official business." She stated formally.

Burt was at a loss. "What company did you say you worked for?" He asked as they made their way into the living room.

"I didn't." She smiled. "I am with the esteemed Academy for Gifted Young Students, or eafgy-sss. It is a subdivision of the Academy of Rowena's - the New England estate of course - programme for America's best and brightest. Or so our letter says." She winked.

"Letter?"

"Yes, the one we sent out last week informing you of my arrival. The letter written on parchment... I believe the envelope was blue, a seal on the front?"

"Oh, that one. I assumed it was fake. I think I threw it out."

"Understandable, with so many scams happening in this day. It's a good thing our programs are so well known." The woman paused her inspection of their mantle to look at Burt expectantly. "I expect you _have_ heard of our programs prior."

"Can't say I have."

Antonia Wellington gave him a brief smile. She began walking the perimeter of the living room, throwing glances toward the stairs often. More than once she looked right to the place under the banister where Kurt was hiding and listening in, somewhere she shouldn't have been able to see him.

"That's perfectly fine. I'll just have to fill you in on some of the finer details." She cast one last glance at the spot then returned to Burt. "To get straight to the point, we are interested in your son Kurt."

"Oh?"

"Some of his records were submitted to us. His grades are excellent and he certainly shows promise in several fields."

"So what does he have to go through an admission process to apply? And how much will this cost." Burt pulled his cap off, rubbed his bald head, and placed the cap back on. It was a nervous habit of his.

"This is basically a scholarship program. So the school expenses will be paid for by a private fund."

"Um, so - sorry another question - is this like a boarding school?"

"Don't be afraid to ask a lot of questions, I know this may not be very orthodox. May I?" She gestured toward the couch, exhibiting social etiquette for the first time.

"Yeah." Burt took the seat across from her.

"It is not a boarding school. If you were to accept this offer, Kurt would be given a tutor that he would see on a regular basis."

Uncharacteristically, suspicion that this was some sort of scam never crossed Burt Hummel's mind as the woman went on to further explain.

"Would it be alright for me to speak with Kurt?" She was soon asking.

Burt hesitated. "He might've gone to the park."

Antonia glanced at the stairs as she spoke, "Oh, I think he might be closer than you think." Her tone made it clear that she intended for him to call for Kurt.

Being the shared owner of a business Burt Hummel didn't usually take directions from anyone, let alone pushy little girls, but something about this woman made it difficult to say no.

"Kurt! Kurt could you come down here for a minute!"

Meters away, hiding behind the banister Kurt cautiously stood up and pretended to walk out of his room. His feet deliberately smacking the carpet noisily.

"Oh hello dad! What was it that you needed me for?" He asked unconvincingly.

"Uh huh. Come down here a minute."

Kurt took note of the foreign woman sitting on his couch as he descended the stairs and walked over to his father.

"Kurt this is Miss Wellington from some school that's apparently interested in you. She wants to talk to you."

Kurt slowly raised a shaking hand toward her. "Pleased to meet you."

Antonia took it with a warm smile. "Hello Kurt."

"Um I guess I'll make some tea." Burt left them.

"As you probably heard, I am from a special school."

"Yeah."

"How old are you Kurt?"

"I'm twelve. How old are you?"

The corners of her lips twitched. "Twenty-five. My name is Antonia Wellington, but you can call me Tony. I'm here because we're interested in you Kurt. You're a very special kid." She carefully chose her words, aware of the muggle in the next room.

Kurt nervously glanced in the direction of the kitchen and shifted closer. He looked at the woman seriously and said in a low voice, "Are you from the government? Am I being taken away because I'm weird?" The last part was said very quietly.

Tony's heart broke for the kid.

Burt seemed like a genuinely nice guy, so she wasn't particularly worried about him being abusive or anything. Kurt Hummel just seemed like a kid who was afraid of disappointing his father. It was sad.

She took pity and did something she probably should have done from the start. Taking advantage of the kid's bowed head, she pulled her wand out discreetly and cast muffliato around them, then stowed it back away. Now Burt would only hear a faint buzzing noise if he came near.

"You are not weird Kurt. The things you can do aren't even abnormal."

Kurt snorted. "I doubt that."

"You know Kurt, I'm like you, I can do things too."

Tony glanced at the kitchen. When she was sure the coast was clear she pulled out her wand out for Kurt to see. She looked around the room, until she found an elegant silver picture frame on the mantle. She pointed her wand at it and with the flick of her wrist it began levitating.

Kurt gasped.

The picture steadily floated toward them until it was directly in front of Kurt, then whatever force that held it up disappeared and the laws of gravity reactivated. It fell right out of the air and into Kurt's waiting hands.

"Who is that?" Tony indicated the woman in the photo.

"My mother."

That photograph had been one of the last pictures Kurt took with his mother, he was eight then. In it Elizabeth's arms wrapped around a younger Kurt, she looked very happy smiling down at her son.

"She died after this."

Tony nodded. She of course already knew this. She went through great pains to gather as much information about Kurt Hummel as she could. It was so difficult since none of his relatives seemed to be magical at all. All she could find on a Elizabeth Hummel was an old obituary dated back a few years.

"Do you know if... Was she different like you?"

Kurt shrugged. "I don't remember much from then, other than a few accidents I caused."

Tony decided to cut to the chase, and if necessary do damage control after.

"Kurt you're a wizard."

Kurt's head shot up. After a moment he said, "And you're a wizard too?" He didn't look even remotely convinced.

There were times when Kurt thought he was crazy, those occurred more often then not. There were even days when, though he didn't believe in such nonsense, he thought himself possessed. Never in his young life had the term 'wizard' ever came to mind, and it certainly wasn't happening now.

"No," Tony answered patiently. "I am a witch. Now, I know it may sound a little strange-"

"Oh it's absurd." He interjected.

"But I'd like you to give it a chance. Let me speak my bit and some time I'll take you to the Ministry. There's nothing like an eye-full of magic to make the most cynical believers."

Kurt really didn't want to go anywhere with this strange woman. He felt like that didn't matter, that he didn't really have a say. There was only the smallest part of his mind that was willing to do whatever you get answers. The rest of his brain was screaming 'change the subject!' So he did.

"How did you make the-" Kurt searched for the frame that has been in his lap only moments ago but it had vanished. He looked up at Tony. She was staring over his shoulder, suppressing a smile. He slowly followed her gaze to the mantle. The picture was sitting in it's original place. For a moment Kurt thought that maybe it had never moved.

Tony leaned in conspiratorially. "Magic."

Kurt's eyes widened. "What about my dad? Or is this supposed to be a secret thing?" He asked, forgetting he wasn't supposed to be believing any of this.

"Yes and no. While we magic folk prefer to live in a state of semi secrecy, it's allowed for a few exceptions under certain circumstances. After you are seen by the Ministry it will be up to you whether you tell your father since he's a muggle - non magic person that is. Before you make that decision, I'd like to inform you more about how this works so you're not guessing in the dark about anything."

"If I'm not telling dad about this yet, shouldn't we be more discreet?"

Tony inclined her head towards the kitchen. Seconds later Burt walked out with a hand pressed to his temple. Kurt watched curiously as his dad shook his head furiously. Behind her back Tony discreetly waved her wand and lifted the muffliato charm.

The fuzzy sound that had previously been plaguing Burt disappeared. "Did you two hear that weird buzzing?"

Kurt turned to Tony wide-eyed.

* * *

The strange woman eventually left after first exchanging contact information with Burt from the fake school. She told many thing about this made up institution so convincingly that Kurt nearly believed her. Before she left she let the Hummel's know that she would be returning in three days with all of the necessary information proving the school's legitimacy and papers for them to sign.

Three days later, at much of the same time as before, Antonia Wellington was back just like she said. Burt carefully went through everything, or so he thought. The papers proving the school were actually random crayon drawings and a nicely done confundus charm done only to her knowledge. Kurt raised his eyebrow at the former. Once Burt found everything in order they moved onto the paperwork. These were actually legitimate legal documents, though they were for the Ministry's purposes and cleverly disguised to appear differently to muggles.

_"These are to get you into the system." _She'd whispered to Kurt.

Kurt was the only Hummel whose actual signature they needed, other than that the rest was information to get Kurt registered in the magical world. Antonia only added spaces for Burt to sign to be more realistic.

After all of the legal documentation was out of the way Antonia was preparing to leave again. She informed them that she would be bringing by a copy of the curricular's schedule the following week and was gone.

* * *

It has been nearly a month since the woman had stepped into the Hummel's lives and things were already different. The more times Kurt saw magic or accidentally performed it, the more difficult it was becoming to deny its existence. Some might say he was beginning to believe in it. He was even reading a small book on famous magical herbs and their properties that Tony left him during her last visit.

It was a foggy Thursday morning that Kurt opened the door to reveal Tony. After a suspiciously brief conversation with Burt, she was asking Kurt if he minded going to the Ministry. After a month, Kurt just went with it. Magic was weird and evidently made people agree with you.

Ten minutes later Kurt found himself getting into the passenger seat of an old Ford Anglia and leaving Lima behind.

Tony told him that the city was just outside of Cleveland, _underground_. Kurt made a face, thinking it must be drafty, and 'Why would anyone place a whole city underground?'

They made small talk about random little things for a good twenty minutes before things got really interesting. They were on a back road near a few industry farms, when Tony jabbed a little blue button. She then pulled a lever Kurt previously didn't even notice and the sky suddenly seemed much closer, and the ground much farther than was natural for a car.

Kurt let out a squeak of terror as the vehicle shot into the air. They flew up just above the clouds before they stopped gaining altitude and began moving forward. From there Tony continued driving like before... except now they were invisible and now if he was to open his door he could die.

Tony laughed at him clutching his chest and trying to shrink into the car seat. "I'm sorry, I forgot that normal cars don't do that."

Kurt glared at her. "Is there something wrong with the highway?"

Tony ignored his tone. "No. This way is much faster though."

Kurt stopped taking to her for a good twenty minutes. In that time of silence he slowly allowed himself to relax and even was brave enough to look at the window. Though terrifying, the world was quite beautiful from this height.

* * *

Over the years Tony had managed to get a job with the Ministry as the muggle equivalent to a social worker, though it was much more emotionally and financially rewarding. This was made possible by a life changing field assignment back in the day. She got recommendations from a few _very influential_ young Aurors... but that's a story for another time.

All that mattered was that she was no longer the second in command (of two people) of monitoring underage magic activity in a stuffy office with broken equipment. That was a very important job but the glamour was hardly above Magical Maintenance.

Now she was about to make a little boy's dreams come true (even if he had yet to realize them), and stop seeing magic as a bad thing.

Tony smiled.

Kurt Hummel was hardly her first assignment, but thus far he certainly proved to be one of the most interesting. Tony was secretly really hoping the ministry would allow her to be his mentor.

_That_ was her dream job. After Auror training didn't quite work out her ambition went into training young witches and witches. While the adrenaline that came with field work was amazing, it could never compare to a wide eyed child taking their first steps into the world of magic.

She realized this the first time she got to tell a little girl that she was a witch. She had taken the little girl and her mother to the Ministry where they were taken care of by a different official from then on. It had killed her when that was the end of her work. A few more times and she couldn't take it, so she went and got her magical education license.

She hadn't gotten to permanently mentor anyone yet because they kept giving the job to more experienced workers who didn't have such a random past in odd jobs. She was bitter over it sometimes, but she didn't take it personally. They didn't want someone with a high flight risk.

The woman glanced at Kurt who was a little more relaxed, he stared over the dashboard with an awestruck expression.

* * *

Over the dashboard Kurt saw a tiny building, that was probably actually very big, in the sea of grass.

Evidently Tony saw it too as her face lit up in a cheery smile and she exclaimed. "You Kurt Hummel are about to enter Moria!... At least that's what most call it. "

"From Middle-Earth?" Kurt wondered.

"So you're familiar with Tolkien. You should fit in just fine." At the confused look on Kurt's face, she further explained, "The Magical World is kind of obsessed with him. His books are popular among us. Though we're still unsure whether he was actually a wizard." She added as an afterthought. "You know there are a number of wizard historians trying to prove that Middle-Earth is actually a lost civilization."

"Hmm. So what's its real name?"

"The Underground City of Bree."

"Is that also a reference?"

"No, it's actually named after Bree Wildsmith the descendant of Ignatia Wildsmith. She was an explorer, a geologist, and an inventor. She founded it shortly after the Americas were settled when she was on a geology expedition looking for a rocks with magical properties. She found a massive cave filled with previously undiscovered gems and stones. Thus how it came to be nicknamed."

The conversation lulled as Tony shifted gears and flew the still invisible car into the empty parking lot outside the building he'd seen. From here it really was quite large. Once the car was only inches above the ground, the woman clicked the 'anti-gravity button' (as Kurt dubbed it) and the car landed back on pavement with a small shudder.

"So I've just been told that I'm a wizard by a strange, eccentric woman and am now being taken to a secret underground civilization... Am I going to have to defeat an evil megalomaniac?"

Tony raised an eyebrow. Two thoughts went through her mind:

_This kid is awesome!_

And

_Where is this kid from?_

"Don't worry all the Dark Lords have been defeated." She answered seriously.

"So there have been evil overlords?"

Tony pressed the button that made the car visible again and threw it in park.

"I think that's a conversion for when you're older." She said, wanting to stick to lighter topics rather than overload Kurt when he only just found out he was a wizard.

Kurt protested, "But I want to know!"

"No." She said flatly. "Let's go inside."

She got out and waited for Kurt to do so too. When he never did she walked over to his side and opened the door, inside he sat with his seatbelt still buckled and arms crossed. She looked at him expectantly and in turn he gave her the same look.

"I'm not going anywhere unless you tell me. I need to know what I'm getting myself into."

Tony sighed heavily and leaned against the car, her arms crossed. "Okay, I'll answer any questions you have with a yes or no. Only if I find them appropriate."

"I want fully detailed answers to all of my questions, namely ones pertaining to Dark Lords."

"I answer one question in essay format and you get your ass out of the car."

"You tell it to me straight if it might affect my decision in the matter."

"Sorry, Kurt. You don't get any say in your magical education. All young witches and wizards are required by law to attend some sort of schooling until they come of age. Once you have control over your powers you're free to snap your wand in half and bury the robes. But until you're seventeen you're stuck with us."

It was Kurt's turn to sigh. He reluctantly undid the seatbelt. Tony stepped back to allow him to get out of the car.

"Come on. I'll buy you ice cream and I'll answer a few of your morbid questions, then we go back to the Disney magic. Got it?"

Together they made their way across the barren parking lot toward the entrance. They were nearly to the front door when Kurt finally spoke. "Fine, but no ice cream. It's horrible for you."

"Aren't you a little young to be worried about your weight?" Tony asked, holding the door open.

He stopped in the doorway. "Who says I'm worried about my weight? I care about my complexion." With that he spun around and walked inside, leaving Tony to ponder over that statement.

When Tony got inside Kurt was already standing by the front desk talking to... the receptionist... who was being polite and friendly.

She saw Kurt's mouth move, but only heard the young girl's response to whatever he said.

"Aren't you sweet! I was going to buy some potion to change it back, but you're right. You just saved me a lot of money and a trip to the apothecary. You know, the man who works there is such a -"

That's when Tony stepped in. "Okay! If you'll excuse us," she said harshly. "We need to get into the city."

"Oh. Hello Antoinette." The girl didn't even look at her, she only leaned in closer to Kurt. "You know if you want a new mentor all you have to do is ask." She nodded obnoxiously and patted Kurt on the shoulder.

"_Thank you!_" Tony grabbed her kid's shoulder and steered him toward the elevator.

They went down, down, down, and then the elevator doors were opening into a spacious room. They went through the room's twin oak doors... Kurt gasped loudly, his jaw dropping open.

Before him were countless shops lining the cobbled street. His eyes first followed the street that circled a beautiful marble fountain before forking off into different directions. Then his eyes snapped back to the shop fronts hungrily.

This city was not at all what he'd been expecting. Kurt had expected the city to be dank and dark with torches to light it when he was told it was underground, but this place... All around it was bright and cheerful, though he didn't know exactly where the light was coming from, strangely it felt exactly like he was outside standing in the sunshine. Kurt wished he had more eyes to see everything.

Tony grinned at Kurt's amazement. She gave him a moment to really take it all in, then grabbed his hand and tugged to the left. At first Kurt stayed glued to the spot, unwilling to part with the incredible view, but eventually closed his mouth and allowed himself to be pulled through the sizable crowd.

As they made their way down the cobbled street Kurt made do with his two eyes and drank as much in as possible. He probably looked like an owl with a horrible twitch, the way he was constantly swinging his head around so much it looked like it was spinning at the neck.

Along the sidewalks all kinds of people flitted in and out of the shops; children blowing unnaturally massive bubbles, old women in long, pointed hats, wizards wearing business robes, young witches gossiping about the latest edition 'Which Witch', old men complaining about the new laws passed, teenagers arguing over quidditch teams (whatever that was).

Even crazier than the people were the things they carried: oddly shaped packages, animal cages, baskets full of spell books, strangely odored tubes of liquids, candy, anything really. Kurt saw several people carrying broomsticks. The last one was a strange comfort to Kurt, witches and wizards riding brooms was one thing he could understand.

Kurt was nearly swept away when he got distracted by a curly-haired boy.

"Mr. Brown I finished the assigned level two standard Defensive Magical Theory and mom gave me some spending money. May I get that Defense book I saw last week?" The boy asked hopefully.

The man, Mr. Brown, was an old wizard with a neat handlebar mustache.

Kurt never heard the reply, Tony had pulled him to the opposite side of the street. From then on she had to keep a firm grip on his arm so as not to lose him as they continued walking.

The two were taken out of view but the young wizard buy stayed on his mind. The boy couldn't have been much younger than himself and seemed pretty familiar with magic, maybe even good at it. Kurt's stomach gave a nervous jolt. Ever since he was told he was a wizard he'd felt out of place and scared of being a disappointment, even when he barely believed any of it. He only hoped that he could find a place in this strange new world, especially since he was late being introduced.

It did, however, comfort him to see another teen with a mentor. Maybe his situation wasn't as strange as it seemed.

Since the elevator Kurt had been pushed and jostled, nearly stepped on, and at one point accidentally shoulder checked by an old wizard hobbling past.

Kurt rubbed the shoulder that had been hit, which happened to carry his injured arm. "Is it always this crammed?" He asked.

His mentor laughed. "Crammed? This is nothing. In a few weeks time, once school starts up, this place will be worse than New York."

"Have you been?"

Tony guided him around a pile up of people, 'ooing' and 'awing' over something.

"Only a few times. Personally I prefer Ohio. I got enough of these crowds doing office work down here. You?"

"No, but it's my dream to live there some day." Kurt answered.

After what felt like an eternity of walking they finally arrived at the ministry office. It was equally impressive, if not more so, than the rest of the city. It appeared to be only a few stories high, but who knows how much further underground it probably went down. What could be seen of it was magnificent. The large, snowy building looked like it had been carved from the underground mountain it sat in front of. Below the building itself was a set of large marble stairs. At the top of the stairs there were several Greek style pillars holding up a sloping roof that overlooked a row of glass doors. The doors had beautiful, dark wooden paneling around the edges.

Inside the fancy glass doors was a wide rounded atrium. Rows of tall office buildings lined the walls, many of their occupants barely visible through its glass windows. A steady crowd of ministry workers streaming to and fro, in between the offices.

Tony lead him off to the side toward a pair of lifts. They stepped in and she pressed one of the numerous buttons on the panel.

"We're going to the legal department." She explained. "I need to get a few things, then we'll go to the bank."

Kurt wondered what she had brought him for, it seemed like she was running errands for herself. He didn't say anything though. He was thoroughly enjoying this underground city, getting to see it with his own eyes was a treat enough.

Once the lift reached the correct floor they went into a big room full of manila files full of paperwork. Tony searched for one, finding it quickly, and flipped it open. As she quickly read through it her eyes lit up, evidently seeing good news. After throwing it into her bag, Tony lead Kurt back through the labyrinth that was the ministry and they headed to the bank.

* * *

The bank looked like a tiny ministry, the only difference being the creature guarding the front doors (Kurt assumed it to be a goblin).

On the way over Tony had mentioned that it was goblins who ran the bank.

"There was an issue at another bank about a decade ago." She said vaguely. "Goblins have been that much more cautious ever since, which makes security pretty tight." She then went on to give a brief history lesson on the place.

Apparently this bank was the only one in America run by goblins, and one of some two hundred in the world. There had been a campaign in the US against goblins around the time of muggle segregation. Very few humans in the magical world trusted these creatures to be fair, let alone with their money.

"Yeah, that's a goblin." Tony whispered as they walked up the stone steps.

If Kurt was being honest, he didn't trust them either. By the way the creatures looked, wizards had every right but to be wary.

He tried his best not to stare at the creature, but this proved a difficult task. This was the first magical creature he'd ever seen. He settled on watching it out of his peripheral vision.

The goblin was a head shorter than him, with pointy ears, and long fingers and feet. He noted it's beady, black eyes that held a cold and calculating stare. The goblin slowly tilted his head toward him. Kurt gulped and hastened to look away. His mind was quickly occupied as his eyes found a small wooden plaque hanging on the doors.

It read, 'Steal, and you die.'

Kurt didn't know whether to giggle or shudder, as he was unsure how serious these goblins actually were.

They walked through a pair of great bronze doors and into the bank itself. There were two long counters on either side of the room, a different goblin sat at a stool behind it doing various jobs. Countless of them were scrawling on thick paper with large feathers, a few compared gems and weighed different coins on sets of brass scales, and then there were more showing people to various doors that led out of the room.

Kurt subconsciously moved closer to Tony as they walked to the end of the room. There they were greeted by a goblin.

"Afternoon." Tony greeted back.

The goblin opened his mouth to say something but was cut off.

"I have the key." She slapped it down on the table. "We're going to the Hummel's vault, it was -"

"Yes, I know of which one you speak." The goblin frowned. He motioned to someone behind them. "Grimgook will take you."

They followed the indicated goblin to one of the doors leading out of the hall. Inside Kurt was surprised to see that the room past the door dark wasn't a room at all. It was a narrow cave with a set of tracks in the center. Quite similar to what he had expected the city to look like: Dark, filthy, torches lining the walls.

Then there was an ugly creature and a young woman telling him to get into a rickety cart. Kurt reluctantly took a seat, pressing himself as close to the center as space would allow. The cart then zoomed off... at a relatively slow pace. It really wasn't going very fast, but as someone who'd never been to an amusement park, Kurt felt as though he were on the world's speediest rollercoaster.

Fortunately for him the nightmare ended quickly. The cart rolled to a stop directly in front of a big, metal, hinged door. The trio hopped out and Grimgook stepped ahead of them. The goblin took a long fingernail and swiped it down a crack in the vault door. There was a puff of green smoke and then the heavy door swung forward with a loud creak. Grimgook moved back.

Kurt was so interested in how the vault was opened that by the time he was curious about what it held Tony had stepped into the cell, obscuring his view.

She knelt, producing a linen bag and began to fill it. It was then that he noticed the large piles of gleaming metal. Inside the vault was a variety of coins and even a few gems could be seen among the treasure, glinting as the meager torch-light flickered. The coins ranged from small and bronze to silver to large and gold. Kurt concluded that the Wizarding World used these as their currency.

When the bag was bulging with coins, Tony left the vault and the goblin resealed it.

Tony mentally weighed it. "I think that should keep you out of the bank for a while."

Kurt thought she was talking to herself, but then she was holding out the hefty sack of coins for him to take. He eyed it hesitantly.

"Just take it." Tony urged. "I'll explain everything outside."

Kurt slowly reached his hand out, as if expecting her to suddenly pull back. He curled his fingers around the tied off area. Once Tony let go he realized how heavy it was and quickly moved to cradle the bottom with the other hand.

They climbed back into the cart and sped off.

"I'm assuming all of this is money?"

Tony smiled. "Yep, wizard currency. There's three different types of coins: Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts. Galleons are the big gold ones. Sickles are silver. Knuts are bronze. Seventeen Sickles to a Galleon, and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle."

Kurt mentally stowed that information away.

"I'd say there's probably a hundred galleons, give or take." Tony added, eyeing the bag.

Kurt suddenly felt very overwhelmed. He was carrying more money than his father had probably ever seen. After his mother left them, between the hospital bills and payments and insurance he knew his dad had had trouble making end meet for several years. They had only just gotten financially stable! That whole time that small fortune (he still didn't believe it belonged to him) was sitting in a musty underground vault.

Outside the bank, Tony took them to a small gelato vendor on the edge of the city, where she forced Kurt to share one with her.

_"Dude, be a child."_

They sat down at one of the patio tables next to the shop. It wasn't until after they finished their ice cream that Tony actually said anything.

"Did you know that your mother was adopted?" She suddenly asked.

Kurt nodded. "Yeah. Dad told me after she died, he said that didn't make grandma any less of family."

Tony smiled. "Exactly. Which is why she left you this." Tony indicated the gold filled bag.

"I don't understand."

"Your grandmother was a witch. She never had the chance to have any children of her own before her husband died, and she never remarried. So she went to a muggle orphanage and adopted your mother and raised her. She was a muggle born so none of her family, including her muggle daughter would have any use for wizard currency. None except you." She bopped him on the nose playfully. "When you were young she recognized the signs and told your mother. Then before she died she made sure to write you into her will. So you now have all of her things in your possession."

To say Kurt was shocked would be an understatement. Only a month ago he thought he was a relatively normal boy with a slight strange, unmentionable affliction. Then he was being told that he had magical abilities, he belonged to a secret society, unicorns really existed, his grandmother had been a witch!

It was distressing to realize that had his grandmother still been with them he could have had a familiar face to help him through this. Among all of these revelations It was such a small comfort that his mother had at least known about him.

After five minutes of nothing being said, Tony began to grow worried.

"You're quiet. Are you alright?" She asked gently.

"Yeah, fine." Kurt lied, offering a forced smile. He looked behind him at the surrounding shops. "Do you mind if we go into some of them?" Perhaps some shopping with his newfound fortune would ease the dull ache in his chest.

"Sure. Let's go."

* * *

The next two hours were devoted to Kurt dragging his witch companion into every shop he saw that looked interesting... which was all of them.

They went into book shops, places that sold broomstick supplies, apothecaries, magical pet stores. Tony had to pry Kurt away from the last one.

_"What would your father say if you brought home a cat that breathed fire?"_

Apparently 'Magic could convince him' wasn't the answer. He then received a lengthy speech on responsible magic usage concerning muggles. He still wasn't allowed to buy the owl.

Running around Bree certainly didn't take away the pain, but it proved to be an excellent distraction as well as filling one of the many holes in his chest.

The most fulfilling moment of the day was when it came time to purchase a wand.

The wand shop was on a lonely side street, not far from the lift that they arrived on. It sat alone at the end of the cobbled road, away from the hustle and bustle. There was a rotting wooden sign with peeling gold letters above the door. The display case beside the door held exactly three wands sitting on plush red cushions.

Inside a wispy old wizard fiddled with various boxes at the counter. He ceased his work when he heard the bell above the door tinkle.

The shop's interior was dusty and silent, yet it gave off an air of something powerful that sent tingles up the young wizard's spine

"Ah, hello!" The man called.

He made his way around the counter and stood in front of the pair.

"Hey, Mr. Peregrym. We're here to buy this one his first wand." Tony told him.

"Well, of course." The man, Mr. Peregrym answered cheekily, then turned to Kurt

"Hello Mister?"

"Hummel. Kurt Hummel." They briefly shook hands.

"You must be one of my older first time customers." The man commented.

Kurt didn't know what to say to that, so he remained silent a faint blush tinging his cheeks pink.

"This one's a special case."

Kurt glared at her. In turn she stuck out her tongue.

The wandmaker pulled a long tape measure from his pocket. "Hold out your right arm, if you please Mister Hummel." Kurt held out his arm and the man began taking measurements. He measured from shoulder to finger, wrist to elbow, knee to armpit, and around his head. The whole time Kurt stood completely still.

Mr. Peregrym regarded Kurt unwaveringly, making a few inquisitive noises occasionally. Kurt realized that the tape measure was now floating around on its own. After a long time of scrutiny, long after the magical tape measure had fallen to the floor in a heap, the old man finally walked to the shelf behind the counter and began shifting through a row of boxes.

He came back moments later carrying about five of the long white boxes. He set them down on the table top and opened one. He pulled a long, thin piece of wood from inside it.

"Seven and a quarter inches, Maple and dragon heartstrings." Kurt took the thing from him awkwardly. "Just try and give it a wave."

Kurt had barely lifted the wand when it was snatched away.

Mr. Peregrym opened another box. "Ebony and unicorn hair, nine inches. Very flexible."

This one was also quickly taken away. Kurt tried another wand from the boxes on the counter and then Mr. Peregrym took them all away with a mumbled, "None of _these_ will do." The man returned to the shelf and trifled through at least ten other boxes. These he didn't even have Kurt try out, he seemed to know the answer just looking at them. "No." He murmured and shoved them aside.

"A tricky customer, eh?" He laughed delightfully.

Kurt was beginning to get nervous. What if none of these wands worked? What if they said 'sorry wrong kid' and he was never allowed back into the Magical World? He glanced at Tony, who sat in one of the waiting chairs looking unperturbed. What if -

"Aha!" Mr. Peregrym rushed from behind the counter toward Kurt, holding yet another white box. "I had another customer, quite as difficult. But we found him a wand eventually. You'll find it's brother, I think, is perfect for you." The man carefully handed Kurt another wand. "Ten inches, Willow with a Phoenix feather core. Swishy. Excellent for charm work."

As Kurt's fingers curled around the smooth wood, a heady chill ran up his spine. Unlike the other wands this one seemed to fit in his grip perfectly, like it was specifically created for his palm. He instantly thought that he had to have this one. A flick of the wrist as good as proved that this wand was the one. Colorful sparks flowed in a graceful arc out of the end making Kurt start and nearly drop it. Mr. Peregrym cheered excitedly and took the wand much more gently than before, bringing it to the counter to ring it up.

Kurt let out a relieved breath that he didn't know he'd been holding, laughing shakily.

* * *

"Tony, what did you mean by 'a special case'?" Kurt asked once they were out of the shop.

"Almost all witches and wizards, muggleborns and purebloods alike, begin their magical education at ten or eleven." She answered, confirming Kurt's earlier suspicions.

"What's wrong with me?"

"You were a case of _our bad_. We were looking for you for quite some time. A few years ago, you set off or systems in the Improper Use of Magic department. We never had the trace on you properly then, but we still saw the massive wave of underage magic. If anything you should be proud. You outwitted the Ministry, you sneaky little fox."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "What's this trace thing?"

"It's how the government tracks underage witches and wizards. Most times it's just a warning, unless you do it in front of or on a muggle under non-emergency situations." She explained. "You are different than kids who attend a school. You have me and a curfew to keep you in line. You can do certain types of magic if I'm present or between the hours of eleven a.m. and four p.m. And don't worry," she grinned mischievously. "I'll have your nose to the grindstone. You'll catch up quickly enough."

* * *

The ride back was as uneventful as before. The only mildly exciting thing to happen was Tony nearly flipping the car. A flock of birds had appeared out of nowhere and she swerved to avoid hitting them.

"Fucking birds." She muttered. Then she froze and side eyed Kurt. "What I just said is a very bad word, you should never..."

Kurt watched the woman in mild amusement. "You know I do attend public school," a shadow fell over his face. "Or at least I used to."

The spastic woman stopped herself mid-speech when she noted his remorseful expression.

"Are you okay kid?" Tony asked.

Kurt looked down at his shoes. "Yeah, fine."

"Ah ah, nope." Tony stopped the car where it was in the air and gave Kurt her full attention.

"We're going to be the best of buds and as your instructor I'm going to need honesty. Now. As your future best friend, I need to know some stuff."

Kurt wondered whether he knew enough magic yet to jump out of the car from this height and still survive... Tony would just scoop him up in the car or use magic to make him first back.

"They used to bully me at my old school. Just ignorant taunts, a few pushes here and there." He said quietly.

"Is that why your dad is homeschooling you?"

Kurt shook his head. "No. He only recently let me after a kid broke my arm." He waved his bad arm lamely.

"Mmmm. We might need to go batshit ninja wizard on some people before the day's through."

Kurt have her a funny look.

"Kidding." She laughed. "But you know what I'm going to do?"

"What?"

"I'm teaching you how to fight."

Kurt frowned. "I thought you said that I was supposed to keep this a secret?"

"That's why you be discreet about it."

"Aren't you a government official?"

"Alright!" Tiny huffed dramatically. "But I still think you should learn some good old fashion muggle self-defense and a little fancy extra defensive wand work wouldn't hurt either. I'm not amazing myself, but I did go to auror training."

"What's a aur-a-or whatever?"

"Evil wizard catcher. Technically I'm not a fully trained auror, but I know my shit- shit." She paused and inwardly berated herself. "And as repayment you have to promise me to be honest."

She stuck out her hand for Kurt to shake. Kurt didn't hesitate this time.

"Deal." He said, then let go of her hand. "Now can we start moving again? Being suspended hundreds of feet above the earth makes me nervous."

Tony chuckled and obliged.

All too quickly for Kurt's liking they were back in Lima parked in front of the Hummel residence.

"How did you know about my grandmother?" Kurt had to ask before he had to leave.

"Hours upon hours of searching through records. I had to make sure you were a muggleborn and didn't have any magical relatives."

"Thank you for that." Kurt said earnestly. "What's a muggleborn?"

"It's a witch or wizard with no magical parentage." Tony answered.

"Does it make a difference?" Kurt asked nervously.

Tony almost said yes, thinking that the honest answer. She internally chastised herself. Yes, there were still those who would always be apart of the old prejudices and think themselves above everyone. No, it didn't make a difference. While it changed how some people saw others, those people didn't matter and it only affected your powers if you let.

"Not in the slightest."

Assimilating into the Magical World would be tough for Kurt, having grown up among muggles, and she couldn't shield him from prejudice, but she had faith that Kurt Hummel would do just fine.

* * *

**A/N****: **_A-bazooka-Fire_**, thank you for being my first reviewer! **_Daddy Directioner_**, thank you for all of your reviews! **_SongsAndShadows84_**, I really appreciate the feedback!**

**Right now I'm not too concerned about getting a large number of reveiws, but I am desperate for like critiscm, if that makes any sense. If just like to know how I'm doing.**

**Thank you!**


	3. Blasts From the Past

**Disclaimer****: I don't own Harry Potter or Glee!**

* * *

Kurt Hummel sat behind his desk, eagle-feather quill scratching away on a piece of parchment.

Tomorrow was he and his mentor's 'anniversary', it would be exactly four years since the day they met, the day he discovered magic. As a tradition, they had celebrated September 18 for the past two years, usually with cake or a field trip to Bree. This year however, they wouldn't be seeing each other. Tony had contracted a case of the flu and been out the past week. The previous Tuesday she had written him to let him know she wouldn't be able to make it, insisting that it was Wizard flu to Kurt's amusement. Kurt sent an enchanted get well card and a 'care kit' when he sent off her owl, Eleanor, not having his own to use. Now he was writing a _Happy Anniversary_ letter, knowing that Tony would do the same, and he could send it with Eleanor.

In four years Kurt Hummel had come far, both as a person and with magic.

Although he got a late start, he put his heart and soul into becoming a self-sufficient wizard, working diligently under his mentor's supervision, and on weekends and during the summer too. At seventeen Kurt was studying level 8 magic and had taken his O.W.L's and passed with flying colors. These were the Wizard equivalent of the S.A.T and decided what D.W.I (Done with Wizarding Instruction) examinations he would take. His best subject was Charms, with Transfiguration coming in close second, and his worst was Defense. No matter how much extra lessons Tony have him in Defense Against the Dark Arts, he never got the hang of the actual wandwork.

Kurt was wrapping up the last paragraph when the ink flow faltered. He shook his quill, trying to coax the last bit of ink out, but along with his ink pot, it was empty. He groaned in annoyance and stood up to search for a spare pot. A pen or pencil would have easily done the same job, probably even better than a quill, but mixing the beautiful calligraphy he saved for letters and his everyday scrawl would look odd. And he'd be damned if he had to rewrite the letter. This was also a matter of tradition. He really didn't understand why the Magical World insisted on wearing special clothes or using muggle tools from centuries ago, yet the symbolism behind it was exciting.

Kurt walked into the closet and pulled a box of miscellaneous items he'd collected over the years down from the top shelf. He sat it down on the floor and began rummaging through, figuring it must have spare supplies.

At the bottom he found many odds and ends he'd previously forgotten about: Books, Chocolate Frog cards, some old candy, and what have you.

Kurt laughed upon seeing the mangled remains of a once dear scarf. It's mint green material was now covered in large holes, each having a thin ring of burnt material around their circumference. He ran his fingers over the tag in the corner that hadn't melted all the way off. This happened in the early days of his journey into potioneering. The thing had slipped from his neck and caused a chemical imbalance in what should have been a simple cold draught, that instead turned into a small explosion.

It was easy to laugh at the incident fondly now that it was well into the past, but when it had first happened, for a very long time it was a dark, shameful memory. The Scarf Debacle of 2007, as Tony called it, had occurred a few months after Kurt's lesson with Tony began.

After his first trip to the Ministry Kurt had decided against telling his father about being a wizard, though Tony strongly suggested it. His argument was, '_I want to wait awhile, until I can explain all of this better myself.'_ His mentor was adverse to his decision, but respected it none the less.

Kurt was older now and had passed most of his big exams, so he studied magic more independently. Now Tony came by for a practical lesson twice a week and assigned him essays and papers. Back then every weekday around eleven a.m., Tony would arrive at the Hummel's to begin their lessons. Then she'd secretly had him practicing Transfiguration, Potions, a lot of Defense Against the Dark Arts, and studying Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures from a book - Tony couldn't legally bring him am actual unicorn and magical plants were too dangerous.

As he got me comfortable, Kurt had steadily gained confidence with magic, or at least didn't squeal in terror every time he produced magic. In fact, he had become quite the transfiguration prodigy. It was his best and favorite subject back then. After six months of hard work he had gotten himself to a level three. That lead to another trip to Bree (they had had so much fun messing around they nearly forgot to pick up his new books).

The Monday morning the first incident occurred had begun like every other.

* * *

_Kurt woke up, got dressed, made breakfast, the usual. Burt had already left for the shop by then, so he was by himself. After breakfast, Kurt got to work on his normal assignments. He was completely done by ten-thirty. This gave him an extra half hour to do whatever before Tony arrived. However, she never did arrive. He waited by the door until twelve, but no one came._

_He had then decided to take matter into his own hands._

_She might have gotten caught up or be sick, so what's the use of waiting. He figured._

_Though advised, it wasn't required to have Tony present. They did give him a curfew of times between which he could practice magic. Why would they go to the trouble if he could only do it with his instructor?_

_Today they were supposed to practice Defense and then Potions. He would actually need some help with the former, so he skipped straight to the latter. At least that way he would get something done._

_He left the living room to gather his potion supplies. All of them were gathered in a large box, hidden in plain sight on a shelf in the basement._

_He aimed his wand at the heavy box. "Wingardium Leviosa." With a swish and flick of the wrist, the box levitated and began to fly up the steps. Kurt trailed behind it, and once they were in the kitchen, he guided it onto the counter top._

_Kurt grinned broadly at this simple feat. That was the first time he used magic by himself. It was exciting!_

_Humming, Kurt began pulling out the box's contents: A pewter cauldron, a special ladle, a set of scales, a box with many compartments that held the potions ingredients._

_The previous week Tony had mentioned a drought for the common cold, so that's what he looked for in his potions book. It was easy to find, right between Bezoars and Draught of the Living Death. The potion itself looked simple enough. Kurt had full faith that he could do this._

_Soon he was stirring his half done potion, which was boiling on the hotplate in the center of the island._

_Everything was going perfectly, then the recipe called for six spider legs to be added while the potion was stirred counterclockwise. The box of spider legs were on the counter across the kitchen._

_He switched the ladle to his left hand and continued his even clockwise stirring. His right hand picked his wand up off of the table. He carefully pointed it at the box of severed arachnid parts. The cauldron bubbled making him startle. His pulse picked up speed and a sweat broke out over his brow. Kurt lowered his wand and peaked at the potions book._

_Okay, so it was supposed to do that._

_See? I have this. Kurt thought._

_"I got this." He said aloud as though that would make it so._

_Kurt loosened his scarf. It was getting ridiculously stuffy in there. He turned his torso and pointed his wand again._

_"Wingardium Leviosa."_

_The box wiggled its way from between the other ingredients, flying straight up. He willed it toward himself, but the thing just continued to float up._

_Hold a second. Is Wingardium Leviosa a summoning spell? 'Cause it's doing a hell of a job summoning. Kurt thought sardonically._

_A noise behind him made him jump and stop stirring. His loss of concentration also resulted in the box of spider legs go crashing down._

_In that moment, time seemed to go in slow motion and many things happened at once._

_Kurt spun around. First he saw his father standing in the doorway, with an unreadable expression. Then, out of the corner of his eyes, his scarf slipped from his neck and landed in the cauldron._

_He had just enough time to throw himself on the floor and fling his arms above his head, before a small explosion rocked the kitchen._

_Within seconds Tony was bursting through the front door and running through the house. As soon as she saw Kurt cowering on the floor and a shocked Burt standing there. Her training immediately kicked in. She pointed her wand - which she had whipped out the moment she heard the explosion - at Burt before he could even register her presence. Red sparks shot at him, instantly taking effect and causing Burt to go down. Before he hit the floor Tony flicked her wand and he was held up by an invisible force._

_Fortunately the mess wasn't too bad and Tony was able to put everything in order herself in no time. After she was done with the proper protocol, she checked on Kurt and told him that it was an accident and everything was fine. Kurt pretended to agree so that she would leave. That night he locked his bedroom door, then curled up in his bed, and cried until he couldn't anymore._

* * *

Kurt folded the scarf and placed it back in the box.

That hadn't been the last incident. After that first time he had certainly been even more cautious with magic. Heck, for a good two weeks afterwords he'd refused to more than study theories out of the book. It took another month until he tried potioneering at all. No matter how cautious he was, accidents were bound to happen. The next one had happened about eight months later. Burt walked in during a transfiguration lesson. It wasn't nearly as scary because Tony was there this time, but it still left him very shaken.

The older he got, these incidents occurred far less often. On the occasion they did, ministry officials or his supervisor would have to clean up a mess or modify his father's memory. Anytime the latter happened, once the ministry people or his mentor left, Kurt had always cried.

The next thing Kurt picked from the box was an outdated history book, _Europe's Most renowned Magical Institutions._

This was the first book he ever bought, it was during that first time in Bree. He saw it in a used book store they visited, sitting on a rack of on-sale books. He'd curiously picked it up and read a few pages. Tony argued that the book was outdated as it was written by Merlin nearly a thousand years before, but Kurt insisted he buy it. He only read the first two chapters, then it was put away and forgotten until he was fourteen. That was around the time that he really got interested in how magic schools worked. He went through countless books on the world's most renowned magical institutions and even a few about schools that had long since closed. It was ironic that it was that particular summer when he started obsessing about school. Or perhaps it was Tony noticing how lonely he was and mentioning it to Burt...

* * *

_For the best part of three years Kurt diligently studied magic under the supervision of Tony, and throughout Burt Hummel had been ignorant of his son's abilities. He had remained under the impression Kurt was studying music and high level math with some vague New England school, while homeschooling as well. Burt had been more than content with Kurt's education, however he worried about Kurt's lack of a social life, even his tutor had expressed concern in Kurt's lack of companions his age. This led Burt to look into public schools again._

_Kurt had been sitting in his bed, reading an outdated book on foreign magical schools after Tony left for the day, when his father unexpectedly walked in. Kurt hastened to hide the book, but his father already saw it. He settled for slapping his hand across the title as Burt took a seat in front of his feet. He looked at the book curiously. All Kurt could do was open and close his mouth when Burt slid the heavy book from beneath his hand._

_He held it up to the light. "**Europe's Most renowned Magical Institutions** by Merlin." He read aloud._

_"It's a Tolkien book." The teen wizard quickly lied._

_"Creative guy."_

_Kurt awkwardly chuckled._

_Burt took a few seconds to compose his thoughts. "Kurt there's something I've been needing to talk to you about."_

_Kurt's eyes widened comically and he bolted up. "Dad! We are **not** having the talk -"_

_"Slow your roll. It's not **that** talk, though that one will be coming up. No, I wanna talk to you about public school."_

_"Public school?" Kurt said slowly. "What about it?"_

_"I want you to consider it."_

_No! No way! He couldn't go back!_

_Images of being called names, yelled at, being thrown around at recess, all the abuse he'd been subjected to in school, came flooding back. Most of those were from elementary school. He was fast approaching fourteen, which meant ninth grade... High school. Surely high school would be even worse. He'd seen Ned's Declassified, Degrassi, Law and Order - students **killed** other students in there! He'd be eaten alive!_

_"I stay home, complete my studies within a reasonable amount of time, feed myself, make dinner for when you come home, and when I can I help out in the garage. Our system works just fine."_

_"The thing is kid, I don't think it does. I know you gotta be lonely spending all day by yourself."_

_"I'm not lonely." Kurt had insisted. "I have friends."_

_"The guys at the shop don't count,"_

_Kurt opened his mouth to protest._

_"And neither does your teacher."_

_He was struck with sudden inspiration. "Exactly dad! Tony. My lessons are at the same time as school. I can't just drop those."_

_"But you could reschedule. I already asked her if you could get your hours changed. She told me she just has to take it up with that fancy school of yours."_

_"So what? You two have been plotting behind my back?" Kurt asked scandalized._

_"Don't act so betrayed. I told her that I wanted to talk to you before we made anything official."_

_"You're just doing the parent thing where you say that so I feel like I have a choice when I don't."_

_"Kurt, I really do want you to at least try it. But if you really don't want to go I won't force you."_

_"I really, really don't want to go dad." Kurt said honestly._

_"I still want you to consider it. You never know, this could make a huge difference in your life." Burt looked so hopeful._

_He sighed. "I'll think about it - that's not a yes."_

_Burt smiled broadly. "I'm sure you'll love it. We could get you into some sports."_

_"Dad." He said flatly._

_Burt raised his hands defensively. "You never know."_

_Kurt put up a fake smile as Burt patted his legs then stood up and left. As soon as he was gone the smile fell into a miserable line._

_The following day Kurt had informed his father that he was willing to try public school again, making his dad very happy. When Tony arrived later on, Burt had immediately dragged her into the kitchen to discuss their options. Kurt listened in the next room throughout much of the conversation. He was admittedly impressed when his mentor took Burt's questions in stride without once having to pull out her wand. That quickly morphed into annoyance when she genuinely expressed how happy she was for this new arrangement. She told__ Burt that she would inform the board - The ministry - and get permission to change Kurt's hours - curfew - and that would be that. Not surprisingly formal lessons were cancelled for the day. Kurt was left to independently study while Tony apparated to the Ministry immediately._

_Later that night Kurt was in his room again, this time reading the latest edition of Vogue when he heard a light knocking. Seconds later his mentor's head appeared in the doorway. "Hey Kurt!"_

_Kurt sat up and carefully placed the magazine in the bedside table. "Hi Tony."_

_The rest of the woman swung into view. "I had the meeting with the board this morning and got your curfew changed beginning in August. Your slot will be from five to nine. I'll be here between five and seven-thirty. I expect you to do the required reading when you can."_

_"Thanks. Did they give you any trouble?"_

_"Nah," She waved a hand. "I told them your circumstances. They inquired about your studies and I told them you were doing well, and that was that."_

_"And?" Kurt questioned._

_Tony walked further into the room, taking a seat at the end of the bed._

_"They did ask about the situation concerning your father."_

_"Oh."_

_"Yeah. I told them that you still preferred to keep it a secret. Of course I disagree, but I respect your choice."_

_"And yet you try to convince me otherwise."_

_"Exactly." Tony grinned._

_Kurt fell against the headboard with a huff of annoyance. "Other countries would side with me."_

_"Other countries have different laws on the matter. Kids on those countries would cut off their fingers to be able to tell the muggles in their life. Families have been split apart by secrets smaller than this."_

_Lurt groaned, "Don't start the 'kids in China' speech."_

_Tony stuck her tongue out immaturely. "You started it."_

* * *

Kurt rolled his eyes fondly at the memory. He placed the book on the shelf with his other magical books, no longer needing to hide it. He suddenly remembered the state pot of ink he'd thrown in his desk drawer they other day. He went back to the desk and continued writing his letter. His mind continued to wander over the past two years.

* * *

_He had begun public school that fall at William McKinley High School._

_In the beginning, it had been a constant pain balancing magic all the while keeping up with his muggle schoolwork, but Kurt was a diligent student so once he found a way to handle both it wasn't so bad._

_The real struggle had been adapting to being around other teenagers constantly. He was a closeted gay wizard in a muggle's town. It took all of his self-control not to just whip his wand out and curse the football team on a daily basis, and that was during his first weeks when he was a wallflower. It took awhile until he came out of his shell enough to bring out the extravagant wardrobe, after that he didn't hold back in the fashion department. That's when the dumpster tosses, and slushies, and the insults became a regular thing, then life really got difficult. Kurt got to the point that he was leaving his wand at home, secretly stowed in his sock drawer, because the temptation to use it against his bullies was too great._

_Needless to say freshman year had been a living nightmare. It wasn't until a few months into sophomore year when the glee club truly became a wacky family that McKinley became a little more bearable._

_Throughout all of this Tony was not only his mentor but his rock as well. She helped him through the crazy mess the New Directions came to be, the taunts, the insecurity. He went to her for things that he just couldn't explain to his father. The week Burt found him, Tina, and Brittany performing the Single Ladies dance and Kurt joined the football team, it was Tony that noticed what was happening and came to him. Her advice did help him see things differently, but it wasn't until after winning that football game that he finally came out to Burt._

_Unfortunately after that Kurt constantly had her on his back about telling Burt that he was a wizard. In the beginning it was brought up every so often and dropped easily, then it became a daily argument. The worst it ever got was the week he pretended to be straight, then picked up a shift at the garage during lessons. All of this was done in an attempt to be the son he thought his dad wanted. Tony nearly wrung his neck. The argument was only dropped about two months earlier, the fateful week Burt ended up in a coma after his heart attack._

* * *

Kurt had to halt his writing and take a moment to collect himself. The day Mrs. Pillsbury pulled him out of French and told him his dad was in a coma had been the worst of his entire life. He reached up and pulled the pages of his calendar back, his father's hospital discharge papers were pinned to the wall. Kurt lightly brushed his fingers across the papers. A few weeks ago when his father had come back home, he had hung it there as a reminder of what he almost lost.

* * *

_The week that Burt was in the hospital Kurt's lessons were put on hold, but Tony came with him to the hospital everyday. Together they sat by Burt Hummel's bedside hoping for him to get better. After a particularly stressful day Kurt asked to be alone with his father and sang to him. Afterwards Burt's hand moved. It took another week for him to fully awake and get well enough to return home, but there was no lasting damage that the doctors could see. The day before Burt was set to return home from the hospital, Antonia and Kurt got into a fight._

_"Kurt?" Tony had asked._

_"Mmmm?" Kurt replied absentminedly. He wasn't really paying much attention to her, instead looking around the living room for any places he'd missed in his thorough cleaning of their living room. He'd spent that entire day preparing the house for his father's return. The whole time he'd seemingly forgot that he could have cleaned the entire house in three seconds flat had he used magic._

_"I think you need to tell your father." Tony saw him visibly stiffen the moment the words left her mouth._

_Kurt slowly stood back up from where he was bent over, picking up a lone shoe. He paused very briefly before continuing on._

_"About what?" He asked nonchalantly._

_"Kurt," Tony admonished. "It's been what? Nearly five years. He needs to -"_

_"No!" Kurt spun around. "No." He repeated a little more calmly. "He doesn't need to know, not with his bad heart."_

_Kurt briskly walked into the kitchen and began loading the dishwasher. Tony pressed her lips into a thin line and strode after him._

_"What happened to the kid I met? Huh?" She asked harshly. "The one that was adamant about not keeping secrets from his dad?"_

_"He grew up." He answered shortly. "He stopped being naïve and realized that blunt honesty gets you hurt!"_

_"And there it is. Honesty was your first instinct, which is usually right. Now you're scared."_

_"This isn't about me." Kurt deflected._

_"Of course it is. It's okay to be afraid." Tony said softly. "Kurt do you remember that week before you came out to him? You were terrified. At the same time you knew it needed to be done. He accepted you and you were both better men because of it."_

_"I don't think I'm going to be so lucky twice."_

_Tony grabbed Kurt's wrist and pulled hard. "Kurt he's your father. He's proved time and time again that he loves you."_

_"He grew up on the Bible and church. Do you know what they teach you there? That it's just wrong to fall in love if it's not with the right person. That witchcraft is demonic! What will he think of me when he finds out that I'm every part 'abomination'? God forbid he was somehow able to accept me for all of that, who's to say he won't have another heart attack. Next time he could die! I'm not putting that weight on his shoulders."_

_She pointed a finger at him threateningly. "First off, I don't want to ever hear you say those words about **our** kind ever again."_

_"I didn't -"_

_"I know. While you have to give the words people throw at you the power to affect you. It still doesn't make it okay to use them on yourself. It's demeaning to everyone like you._

_"Secondly, you are amazing. I know you say you're confident in who you are, but I also know you're still insecure. You. Are. Perfect. It's your father's job to love you unconditionally, which he does, and to take care of **you**."_

_"I don't want to lose him." Kurt slumped into a chair, rubbing his eyes._

_"I understand that you're worried, but I think he knows that your hiding **something** and that is stressing him out so much more. By not telling him you're carrying around a huge weight on your shoulders and it isn't healthy. It may be a bit shocking at first, but I don't think you'll be burdening him. If anything you'll be freeing both of you."_

_For the first time in ages Kurt didn't fight back. His face crumpled as he walked into his mentor's open arms, letting himself relax for once._

_"I know. You're right." He mumbled. "I need to tell him."_

_"Thank you." Tony sighed._

_After a few minutes Kurt let go and stepped away, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. Kurt walked into the living room and the himself on threw couch, taking his first break all day. Tony smiled as she walked past him on her way to the front door._

_"Besides, this way we wouldn't have to keep messing up his brain with obliviate." She called and then disappeared through the door._

_Kurt jumped up. "You said that didn't hurt him!"_

_A few days after that, once Burt had gotten settled back into their home, Kurt was pacing around the living room. Burt sat on the couch covered in a mountain of blankets, and Tony hung back by the stairs._

_"I'll leave you two to it."_

_"No!" Kurt exclaimed, taking a few hasty steps toward her. "Stay. Please?"_

_Tony raised her eyebrows questioningly. Kurt slowly nodded._

_"Okay, I'll stay."_

* * *

Now Kurt was out about his sexuality and magical abilities, and things were a little easier. Although public school still sucked, the experiences he had and the people he met there helped him to be brave. Without that them he never would have had the courage to come clean to his father about himself. It was nice not having to hide anymore...

Finn burst through the door making Kurt start and almost topple out of his chair. He quickly righted himself, then closed the spellbook laying open on the desk, and flipped it over. The book had been ironically opened to the chapter on Muggle Repelling Charms.

It was nice not having to hide his sexuality from everyone, or magic from his _father_, but due to something called the Magical Statute of Secrecy his extended family, including Finn and Carole, still couldn't know about magic. It's not that he didn't trust them, he just couldn't exactly go spouting the Magical World's secrets to whomever he pleased..

"Hey Kurt." Finn said, taking a seat on his bed. "Are you writing with a feather?"

"Yes Finn, it's called a quill." Kurt answered, still writing.

"Oh, like cartography stuff."

"Calligraphy."

"Right..."

Kurt was about to tell Finn off for being in his room for no reason, when the boy finally spoke his mind.

"Anyway, I wanted to know if I could ride with you to school. Your dad took my car to the shop to get the radiator fixed."

"Fine. I leave at seven twenty."

"Cool, thanks." Finn made for the door, then turned around. "Is that a stick?" He asked curiously, indicating Kurt's wand resting on the table.

Without looking up from his letter, Kurt snatched his wand off of the table top and slid it into his messenger bag out of sight.

"That's a wand, Finn." Kurt automatically corrected him, then froze. "Uh, didn't you hear? Wizards are all the rage on the runway these days." He tried to do damage control.

"You don't have to lie." Finn said, making his stomach drop unpleasantly.

How obvious was he if _Finn_ noticed? Now he would have to obliviate him or threaten him, neither of which would bring about pleasant consequences.

"I know you're secretly into all that nerdy stuff. I think it's actually pretty cool. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

Kurt breathed in relief.

"Thanks Finn."

Finn smiled and walked out.

Kurt signed heavily and got up to put the box back away, in case Finn decided to go through his things out something.

Not so surprisingly, this was a common occurrence. Finn wasn't the brightest bulb in the box and had a knack for walking into rooms without knocking first. It really was a miracle Finn hadn't witnessed Kurt doing magic in the short time they lived together.

When Finn and Carole first moved in Kurt had to hide most of his magical things. For awhile Finn thought he was in the occult after he met Tony and saw one of Kurt's spellbooks. On a stroke of genius Kurt convinced Finn that he was secretly a nerd and was obsessed with World of Warcraft and magic. Finn thought it was cool and got excited. Burt and Tony had found it hilarious when Finn brought home Dungeons and Dragons and made Kurt play with him.

Recently, Kurt had gotten annoyed at constantly having to take everything out of his closet and from under the bed, so he charmed many of his possessions to appear differently to muggles. However, he wasn't entirely positive the spells were working, and he was so used to make up lies and hide things, it was second nature.

Kurt locked the door, to stop future interruptions, and returned to his desk. He folded the letter and sealed it in an envelope; it was set beside the window, to be mailed in whenever Eleanor appeared next.

Having already done his moisturizing routine and gotten ready for bed, he plopped down on the bed, and was out in seconds.

* * *

**A/N****: The next one is Never Been Kissed and it's a monster. ****I hope this one wasn't too confusing with the flashbacks and what have you.**

**I thank everyone who reviewed/followed/favorited!**


	4. Never Been Kissed

**Disclaimer****: I do not own Glee or Harry Potter.**

* * *

"Just a little further..." Kurt muttered in his sleep.

For such a graceful, put together boy, Kurt Hummel really wasn't an elegant sleeper. He laid diagonally; one leg hung over the edge on one side, and his arm and head hanging off the other side. He snored softly between fragmented sentences.

He was having a dream about a strange corridor. In the dream there was another boy he was trying to catch, but every time Kurt caught his shoulder or got close enough to almost see his face, the boy dodged him and ran away even faster. His wand was out and he was about to jinx the boy...

A sharp tapping on the window made Kurt jolt awake and fall onto the floor. He sat up, rubbing his head and looked around groggily. His other hand came up to scratch his neck, but ended up nearly poking his eye out. It turned out at some point in his sleep he grabbed his wand and was still clutching it.

Vague images from the dream he'd been woken from played out in his mind, but before he could properly recall it, he was brought back to reality by the incessant tapping that woke him. Looking up, he noticed the owl colliding its beak with the window. He hastened to open the window. A tawny owl hopped through it and onto the desk, it stuck out its leg. If owls had facial expressions, Kurt was sure she would be glaring at him. He reached out, and Eleanor, now rather grumpy, pecked him harshly on the hand before she allowed him to take the letter.

This time Kurt heard Finn's loud footsteps coming closer, so he made shooing gestures toward Eleanor. The owl eyed the letter on the desk, nipped him again on the ear, and flew out the window. Kurt only got the window halfway down when Finn walked in.

"Morning dude. It's seven forty-seven. You ready to go?"

Kurt gave Finn a look that clearly stated, _'do I look ready?'_. Then it registered what Finn just said.

"Oh, Merlin's pants!" He exclaimed, running to his closet.

He didn't even care that Finn was still in the room and hurriedly began throwing on clothes. Somewhere in the middle of it Finn must have taken the hint, because when Kurt turned around he was nowhere in sight.

Running a hand through his hair, Kurt whistled a short melody (_Lumos_) and the tawny owl flew through the window, landing on his outstretched arm. It was as if she knew he was late and happy about it. He stroked her feathers before setting her down, and picking up his letter. He double checked the envelope to make sure it was sealed properly, then tied it around the owl's leg. The owl spread her wings and was off again; she flew back through the window and out of sight.

Kurt closed the window, then gathered his things and sprinted through the house, Finn hot on his heels. He skidded, grabbing the car door to keep from falling, and flung it open.

"Welcome to teenager-hood, little brother." Finn laughed, bucking his seatbelt.

"Shut up."

* * *

The rest of the day only went downhill from there.

The late-comer traffic at the school was terrible, so he ended up being late and having to park far away from the main entrance. The whole car ride Finn had chatted happily about Glee club and the newest GTV game. They finally separated ways when they got into the school. Kurt got his first tardy in Chemistry, and then had to work by himself on the lab since all of the groups were full.

After third period he had been once again assaulted in the hallway by Karofsky. He was so sick of the bully's behavior that he actually yelled back, earning himself another shove. Mr. Shue saw it and dragged Kurt to his office for a 'heart to heart'. Kurt felt even worse after their little chat. He had slouched into the choir room, prepared to deal with the ridiculous level of testosterone that was the boy's team. So when Mr. Shue had announced that they would be performing songs from their gender counterparts, he instantly perked up. The New Direction guys were now sprawled out across an empty History classroom, discussing possible ideas; or rather, sitting around staring off into space, waiting for someone to come up with a likeable idea.

Kurt strode through the door and up to the front of the room, several large poster boards under his arm. The other boys didn't even notice his appearance and ignored him while he sat up his presentation.

To get their attention he slapped his pointer against the board with a resounding _smack_. "Now!" Everyone started out of their previous states of boredom. "Obviously for this medley to work, I'm gonna have to sing lead, and of course when you're singing Diana Ross feather boas are a must."

"Isn't this lesson about opposites? I mean, you in a sequined gown and feather boa is exactly what you'd expect." Artie said.

Kurt ignored the thinly veiled insult. "Okay, who said anything about a gown?"

Puck stood up. "Uh, dude. Why don't you make yourself useful and go put some rat poison in them old folks' Jello or visit the Garglers?"

"The Warblers." Kurt corrected.

"Whatever. See what they're up to. And you can wear all the feathers you want. You'll blend right in."

"Fine." He didn't even bother putting up a fight, he simply grabbed his things and walked out. Finn and Mike exchange dubious looks, but he ignored it and continued walking without a word.

Fifteen minutes later Kurt found himself at an impasse, parked in a nearby McDonald's parking lot thinking over his options.

Obviously confunding the boys' team into agreeing with him was quickly ruled out, it being illegal and all.

He chewed his thumbnail, a bad habit when he was nervous. His 'Dalton disguise' lay untouched in the passenger seat ready to fulfill its espionage purposes. It wasn't the uniform that was the problem. He could easily dawn the outfit and apparate over to Westerville, where he would sneak into a Warbler rehearsal, gather information, and be home by dinner. Easy. Then when the New Directions learned of what he did he would be praised for his efforts. He could even get a coveted solo out of this.

The problem was that he was sick of playing lackey to the likes of Puck and Rachel, and especially his own step brother!

Not to mention getting caught could get his ass kicked - or worse, sued for trespassing.

Flashes of previous conversations with Tony came to mind:

_"Don't let those assholes screw you over around Kurt, you're worth more than that._

_"Remind me again what your dad always says... That's right! Nobody pushes the Hummels around!"_

_"Take charge..."_

_"You're an incredible wizard..."_

_Something from that last conversation resurfaced._

_"You can do it. I know that when I come back around tomorrow, you'll be running me into a tizzy with epic spellwork. You're an incredible wizard Kurt. Even kids at Hogwarts have nothing on you!"_

_Hogwarts..._

Like many teenage wizards around the world, Kurt had read every book he could find on the school. Hogwarts was after all the most infamous school in all of Europe - hell, the world!

Once a place of grandeur and awe, famous for harboring some of the greatest names of all times, now brought thoughts of sorrow and death. Of course many still saw Hogwarts with reverence, but many were also reluctant to step near the place, let alone send their children there.

In recent years the increase in the number of ghostly residents was a source of great discomfort for those of muggle background. For those of magical heritage, it was the knowledge of the horrors that had once occurred there. Knowing your child was eating in the very same room where the Dark Lord was vanquished was an understandably terrifying thought. It didn't help that the Great Harry Potter's adventures that occurred during his time at the school were now known by the common public. Though many of the hardships that he endured were not helped by Britain's Ministry, often even warranted by them, it was the school that took the criticism. People not only saw it a place of past terrors, but as a possible risk.

Yes, Hogwarts was still certainly a respectable establishment, but it's image was often marred by its dark history.

To Kurt, everything about the school was intriguing, warts and all. The most alluring of them all was the strict equality enforced there. While most magical dwellings tended to be very accepting, Hogwarts went above and beyond to assure that all students, regardless of their ethnicity, blood status, sexual orientation, or disabilities, were treated equally. Naturally not every student would completely adhere to the policy, and not every teacher could stop every single act of bullying. For Kurt the fact that they actually cared and strictly enforced it was a huge deal.

Suddenly Kurt knew his destination.

He turned the keys in the ignition and sped off toward home.

His dad was working at the garage, so there wouldn't be any questions as to why he was home do early or in such a rush. Depending on how late he returned he could hopefully count on Finn for an alibi.

He quickly parked his car in the driveway and ran to his room. The red tie was replaced by a solid black one, a dark grey vest was thrown on over a crisp white button up; those added with black wingtips and black slacks made for a decent replica of the Hogwarts uniforms Kurt had seen in pictures of students milling about the grounds. It wasn't perfect but it should be good enough to get in and out without any trouble.

Kurt was grateful that they had finally connected their house to the floo network. Now he wouldn't have to drive hours out of the way to Bree, just to use a fireplace there.

He walked into the living room and looked to the kitchen and stairs, making sure he was alone. When he was sure the coast was clear, he grabbed a fist full of floo powder and stepped into the fireplace.

With a cry of, "Hogwarts!" he was sucked into nothingness.

Thousands of miles away Kurt staggered out of the fireplace, covered head to foot in soot. He rubbed some of the ash from his eyes so he could take a look around. He was in an office of sorts. It was empty, except for an old desk and a small window.

Kurt dusted of his pants as he walked toward the window. Wherever he was, it was very high above the ground, and it wasn't far from what appeared to be a Quidditch field.

This had to be Hogwarts.

He cautiously opened the door leading out, peaking around before stepping out. The office lead into a classroom of some sort. The vastness of the room did not escape him, it was massive! The room had a high, sloping ceiling, and stone walls that were easily fifty to sixty feet across, and probably half as thick.

"Swank place." Kurt commented, looking around.

It took most of his self-control to not call out echoes like in the movies.

Kurt shook his head to clear it of those silly notions.

He headed toward a door on the opposite end of the room. The moment he left the classroom a distant bell chimed, and the sound of hundreds of feet reverberated from all around.

Unbeknownst to Kurt the classroom he had landed in was the Defense class, which luckily had been cancelled... Ten or so years ago. It was away from the main hall so only a few stragglers went past, throwing Kurt curious glances. Kurt twitched nervously at their looks and hurried down the hall. It wasn't long before he found himself on the edge of a very large pack of students clad in black robes. He hadn't really taken a lot of notice to what those few stragglers over by the Defense classroom were wearing, but he sure did now.

_What have I gotten myself into?_

Maybe the outfit wasn't as foolproof as initially planned, Kurt kept thinking as he made us way through another hallway a few hundred feet to the left of the other. This one was significantly emptier, a huge relief to the young countertenor. In the first hallway he came upon, he had stood at the edge watching the students easily blend in to the mass and make their way through. For about thirty seconds Kurt considered running back to the empty class and flooing home. He quickly shot this idea down. Not only would it be cowardly and stupid, neither of which would ever be used to describe a Hummel, but he knew the odds of finding his way back were very slim. While he internally struggled time seemed to slow down, and it may very well have seeing as the hall wasn't one bit emptier. How many students went here?

Kurt clutched his designer leather bag for emotional support, gritted his teeth, and dove in. It wasn't so bad really, there were a billion people invading his personal bubble, but at least it was easy to allow the crowd to drag you. That and it made his conspicuousness harder to notice among all of the black. Naturally there were a few visually gifted students who noticed him, but they either didn't care or didn't bother to say anything. The rest ignored his presence. A feat, Kurt thought, that is not possible at McKinley. Soon enough he found a hole to slip out of the mass.

He was just as, if not more, lost.

This new corridor, he noticed, looked more recently built. In the previous ones there had been obscure scorch marks, chunks of stone missing, and the walls looked ancient. That was the only difference between the two, other than that they were practically identical. At least to Kurt anyway.

Many of the students seemed to be going somewhere, or so Kurt thought. He probably would have assumed class if not for the time. School was almost over in Ohio, so counting the time change, it was definitely after normal school hours. Momentarily forgetting his mission, he allowed himself to follow a small group of Hogwartians down a spiral flight of stairs, curious as to their destination.

He was nearing the bottom when he decided to ask someone for directions. He reached out a hand and tapped the nearest person on the shoulder. The boy went down the last step and turned around.

Kurt's breath caught. _I couldn't have asked a girl?_ He thought.

"Oh, excuse me. Um, hi. Can I ask you a question? I'm new here." Kurt said awkwardly.

The boy nodded and smiled. "My name's Blaine."

"Kurt." He shook the boy's - Blaine's hand. "So what exactly is going on?"

Kurt mentally slapped himself. He needed to get out of here, not humiliate himself in front of an attractive boy.

"The Phoenixes!" Excitement shown in Blaine's eyes at their mention.

_Who?_ Kurt thought.

His confusion must have shown, the boy briefly explained, "Hogwarts show choir. Every now and then they throw an impromptu performance. Tends to shut the school up for a while."

Kurt's mind reeled. "So, wait, the glee club here is kind of cool?" He couldn't help but ask.

"The Phoenixes are like rockstars." Kurt raised a brow. "Come on," Blaine said, taking his hand. "I know a shortcut."

Before he knew it he was being whisked away, by the hand no less. He was holding hands with the most gorgeous boy he'd ever seen!

The boy pulled him down yet another massive hall to a tapestry. He looked at Blaine curiously. Blaine, however didn't notice, instead he pulled the heavy cloth back to reveal a gaping hole.

They went through it and ended up in yet another corridor. They ran down this one.

It was strange. Here it didn't _seem _like time slowed down, he could literally_ feel _time and space sluggishly pass him by. His feet felt heavy, like he was trudging through honey. His reaction time seemed to be almost nonexistent, yet at the same time everything else was slowed down as well, including Blaine. It was difficult to explain; it was as though the entire world was going slower... But then if everything was slower that would mean it was relatively still the same... Wouldn't it. Random images of black holes and the space-time continuum surrounded by mathematics and scientific formulas flashed through Kurt's brain, making him dizzy and giving him a headache.

Once they passed out of this strange hallway the lethargic feeling vanished, and the world felt normal again.

What seemed like, and might have been, miles later they finally stopped in front of a bare wall. Kurt would have thought the past five or so minutes very romantic if he hadn't been on the verge of an asthma attack. Hogwarts was huge, much bigger than McKinley. Had he been alone, he would be slumped against the wall wheezing. Since a very attractive boy was still holding his hand he managed to save face and only breathed deeper than usual.

When he caught some of his breath back, his thoughts came back to Earth and he started to wonder why Blaine was staring at the wall. This question was immediately answered by a door appearing there. Blaine dropped Kurt's hand, much to his displeasure, and pulled open the door. Inside was a large group of students scattered about a comfortable looking room.

Kurt was way out of place, he was well aware, but the realization of how much came crashing down the moment he stepped through the door. It was one thing in the hall when there was at least two hundred people in a very large space, but here with a lot fewer people in small enclosed room changed the game.

"Ooh, I stick out like a sore thumb." He said to himself.

Blaine heard. He reached out to straighten his collar. "Well, next time, don't forget your jacket, new kid. You'll fit right in." Blaine winked, making Kurt tinge pink.

Blaine stepped back. "Now, if you'll excuse me."

He walked to the group of the boys in the background, singing a harmony of 'dum's' and 'oohs and aahs'. Many surged forward to form a line with Blaine, who began to sing:

"_You think I'm pretty without any make up on…"_

Blaine's voice was flawless.

Kurt just stood there and stared, his head spinning. It wasn't only because of the boy either, these Phoenixes were amazing! Their voices meshed in a way Kurt was sure none of the New Directions could ever accomplish. It was both beautiful and terrifying.

He continued watching the performance in amazement.

If Kurt Hummel was a smarter man he would have snuck out while the group was performing, but being a mere mortal, he was much too starstruck to even think about moving. After they finished, again, he might have left. Then there was a window of time were Blaine was being crowded, everyone slapping him on the back and offering compliments, but Kurt remained glued to the same spot, clapping like an idiot. It only occurred to him that he shouldn't be there as Blaine and two other boys, who had also been performing, made their way to him.

"Let's chat." Blaine said with a wink.

Blaine lightly guided Kurt by the elbow away from the crowd. In the corner a table and three chairs appeared out of nowhere. Kurt awkwardly sat down along with the two unknown boys. Blaine walked over to a table holding a number of what appeared to be coffees. The two boys did not speak until he came back over, carrying two of the cups.

He slid one across the table, keeping the other for himself. "Latte?"

Kurt nodded, taking the cup. "Thank you." He said, barely audible.

"This is Wes and David." He indicated the Asian boy on his right, then the black boy on his left.

Blaine nodded, tentatively smiling. Kurt tensed at the way the other two boys were watching him. There was no sign of hostility or aggression in their gazes, more of a polite curiosity. That could change quickly.

"It's very civilised of you to invite me for coffee before you beat me up for spying." Kurt went for a light-hearted joke, though there was an underlying tone of sincerity.

"We are not going to beat you up." Wes said very seriously.

Kurt had suspected as much. These boys were certainly intimidating, but didn't seem the type to resort to physical violence. He was also protected by Hogwarts's zero tolerance bullying policy - though he wasn't sure if that was extended to people who skipped in through the fireplace.

David added, "You were such a terrible spy, we thought it was sort of endearing."

"Which made me think that spying on us wasn't really the reason you came." Blaine smiled proudly at his own deduction skills.

"Uh..."

"Naturally," Blaine said casually, straightening his blazer sleeve as he spoke. "A school like Hogwarts has been widely sought out, but I think you're the first person to ever actually_ pop in_."

Kurt couldn't help the small smile the graced his lips. He may be caught, but the situation clearly wasn't as grave as these dapper boys were pretending to let on. "I'll admit I was a little curious about an actual magic school. And I'd heard a little about Hogwarts... And its stance on bullying." The last part was said very quietly.

"We have a zero tolerance harassment policy." Said Wes.

David added, "Everybody gets treated the same. No matter what they are. It's pretty simple."

Kurt of course was already aware of that fact. However, hearing this aloud, particularly from two total strangers who didn't seem to care about his sexuality, really affected him. He took a shuddery breath.

Blaine tilted his head toward Kurt thoughtfully. "Would you guys excuse us?" He asked, with a pointed look to both of them.

David and Wes shared their own looks, then nodded.

"Take it easy, Kurt." Wes said politely.

Blaine didn't speak until both of them disappeared into crowd that was leaving the room. Then they were the only ones left.

"I take it you're having trouble at school."

"I'm the only person out of the closet at my school... _and_ wizard where I live." He added as an afterthought. "And I tried to stay strong about it, but there's this Neanderthal who's made it his mission to make my life a living hell. And nobody seems to notice." He tried to hold the tears back, but a few escaped the corner of his eye.

"I know how you feel. I got taunted at my old school, and it," Blaine exhaled. "Really pissed me off." He stared off into the distance as though numbly reliving a particularly painful memory. "I even complained about it to the faculty. And they were sympathetic and all, but you could just tell that nobody really cared. It was like, hey, if you're gay, your life's just gonna be miserable. Sorry. Nothing we can do about it. So I left. I came here. Simple as that. So you have two options. I mean, I'd love to tell you to just come enroll here; or to defend yourself, but Scotland's not exactly in your backyard, and then there are secrecy rules. Or you can refuse to be the victim. Prejudice is just ignorance, Kurt. And you have a chance right now to teach him."

"How?"

"Confront him." The Gryffindor shifted in his seat, a determined light in his honey eyes. "Call him out. I ran, Kurt. I didn't stand up. I let bullies chase me away. And it is something that I really, really regret."

Kurt sat in silence mulling this foreign idea over, sipping his latte if only for something to do. Blaine politely waited.

Everything that this boy said made sense. He didn't want to look back at this time in his life in regret, and associate it with bullies taking advantage of him. He always said that things would be different once he made it to New York. The problem was he didn't want things to get better, he wanted them to bebetter _now._ What if he never made it to the city of his dreams, or worse, what if things were just as bad there. If that were the case his life would constantly be waiting around for everything to change, then would he finally be able to make things happen for himself? No. He couldn't - _wouldn't_ wait for things anymore.

This boy who he knew nothing about, other than an unfortunate past, had unknowingly lit a fire in Kurt with just a few carefully chosen words. He wanted to face his bullies, wanted to make them see that they couldn't push him around anymore.

Kurt set the coffee cup down on the table. "I think I should go back home now."

Blaine understood and smiled. "I'll walk you... At least to the nearest exit."

Blaine pretended to fiddle with his blazer, conveniently allowing Kurt to surreptitiously wipe his eyes.

They walked out of the now empty mystery room. After the door closed behind them, Kurt looked back but the door was no longer there, only wall. He wondered if that had only been a dream, a very good one. Perhaps he had actually fallen asleep in the boy's meeting and all of this had been his consciences' way of getting through to him. If so, his subconscious was dreamy. Kurt snorted at his own thoughts.

The pair walked side by side in companionable silence for a time. During this moment of quiet Kurt attempted to memorize their route or at least recognize something from his earlier journey.

Down the corridor, left, down three flights of stairs, right down yet another corridor, left, another right... nothing was even remotely recognizable, everything looked so similar.

Kurt was insanely lucky that he had a guide. If everything had gone to plan this trip still would have been a disaster, he would have died in this maze of a school. He had always wondered how kids at boarding school's like this got any real exercise, now he figured it must be all the walking in between classes. Hogwarts was massive. How long had they been walking? It couldn't have been that long, but his feet sore getting sore.

"How _did_ you get in here?" Blaine asked curiously, breaking Kurt out of an inner monologue on the importance of tennis shoes when walking for prolonged amounts of time.

"Hogsmeade?" Blaine guessed. "I didn't think anyone knew about the secret passages." The last part was more muttered to himself.

Kurt thought back. "I came in through a... I think it was classroom. It looked kind of abandoned."

"Ah." Blaine nodded. "That would probably be the abandoned Defense classroom." Kurt have him a curious look so he elaborated, "The teachers always made complaints about it being drafty, but I think it's the rumors about it being cursed."

"There seem to be a lot of those regarding this school." Kurt mused.

"That still doesn't explain how you got in."

"The floo network. I requested Hogwarts and I saw an open grate so I went through it."

"I should probably inform the headmistress so we can prevent unwanted guests in the future."

Kurt had the humility to look mildly ashamed. He stared at the floor. "That would be the responsible thing."

"But then I wouldn't get to see you anymore, and that would be a pity, because I really would like to see you again."

Kurt's head shot up.

Oh.

Blaine's ears tinged pink.

"I know how that must sound,"

_Please mean how it sounds! _His heart screamed.

"But I like you and once the rest of the group inevitably hear about this they'll be _dying_ to meet you."

"If they're half as charming the three I've already met, I assure you the feeling is mutual."

Blaine beamed at him.

"Your Hogwarts uniform is excellent by the way. The only thing you're missing is the robe," Blaine added, "But I don't think it's been required to wear those since 2007."

"If it wasn't the outfit, then what gave me away?" Kurt asked curiously.

"Other than the fact that I haven't seen a first year so lost? Your accent betrays you." Blaine said in a posh British accent. "If you were new, particularly a transfer from America, as a prefect and Wes as Head Boy, we would know about any new students in our house."

"And what house would that be?"

"Gryffindor." Blaine answered pridefully, puffing out his chest.

Kurt noticed the red and gold crest embroidered into the left side of Blaine's robes. He did vaguely remember the other boys that were wearing robes had different crests on them.

"Only a true Gryffindor would be stupid or brave enough to actually break into Hogwarts." Blaine nudged him playfully.

Kurt was kind of, really loving this school. He had been touched countless times that day, by many different people, and it was actually... Pleasant.

"And here I was thinking that it wasn't that big of a deal." Kurt replied.

"Oh, it's a big deal alright. You might even go down in Hogwarts legend if you're lucky."

"I'll cross my fingers."

They stopped at a door that Kurt really wanted to say he remembered.

"Here we are." Blaine said, opening it. "Since this is the only way out that I know of, I suppose you'll be leaving the way you came."

Kurt stepped through and walked across the room to the office, where the door was still open from earlier. Blaine followed after him. Inside the office, Kurt was grateful to see that there was half a cup of floo powder sitting on the desk.

"Kurt?"

Kurt spun around. "Yeah?"

"I meant what I said before. I like you and the others wouldn't be too happy if they never got to meet you. I don't suppose we'll see each other again?"

"Maybe... if fate allows it." Kurt almost slapped himself for saying that, but Blaine was smiling so he couldn't have embarrassed himself too badly. "Or I could tell you where to owl me?"

"That would be very helpful."

Kurt held out his hand. "Kurt Hummel. Lima, Ohio."

Blaine's eyes definitely lit up. He took Kurt's hand and shook it. "Blaine Anderson. Gryffindor tower, Hogwarts."

Kurt let go reluctantly and grabbed a handful of floo powder, then stepped into the fireplace. He wasn't quite sure what to say to Blaine now. This _was _goodbye after all. Was 'I'll see you later' too presumptuous?

He eventually settled on, "Have a nice day, Blaine."

Kurt winced. Why couldn't he just say goodbye like everyone else?

"Have a nice day," Blaine mimicked, his lips twitching. "Kurt."

"Lima, Ohio, the Hummel's!"

* * *

When Kurt landed back in Lima he actually did slap himself.

It wasn't because he potentially embarrassed himself countless times today, or because he needed to know if this really happened... No, he slapped himself because he had just flooed into his house. The same house he shared with an ignorant Finn and Carole. Had they seen him pop out of nowhere, or even Burt, who had not been informed of any impromptu trips to Scotland, he would be in big trouble.

"Where the hell were you?"

Kurt started violently and smacked his head against the top of the bricks. He stumbled out of the fireplace, clutching his head and chest. He ended up tripping over the carpet and fell, landing at a pair of combat boots he himself had picked out.

"Merlin's beard stumbles, you're an even bigger clutz than when I left." Tony took pity on him and helped him to his feet, dusting him off harshly.

"What do you think you're doing popping out of thin air, Kurt? That's not responsible."

"I went to Bree." Kurt lied. "For ink."

"And the ink is?"

"I, um, forgot to buy it. I was distracted."

Tony huffed and rolled her eyes.

"Your dad and Carole went out to eat, and Daffy the friendly giant went to that loud, annoying girl's house. You are so lucky mister. I came here to surprise you, before your parents left. I didn't know you were gone so Finn had to make up an alibi. You owe that boy one hell of a solid."

"Have you been hanging out with Santana in your spare time?" Kurt deflected.

Tony crossed her arms. "I know you weren't spying on a rival glee club because: A, I saw you using the floo network, very irresponsibly I might add, and B, you couldn't sneak up on Mad-Eye Moody's blind and deaf squib brother. So would you mind telling me where you really were?"

Kurt shook his head, then quickly walked up stairs. He was already in his room when Tony thundered halfway up the stairs.

"If you're hoping that I'll drop it because I think you were out buying me something or planning a party for our anniversary, I wouldn't hold my breath!" She called.

The second Kurt's door closed a tiny piece of neatly folded parchment appeared out of nowhere. Kurt curiously grabbed it from where it floated in mid air and unfolded it. Written in big black letters took up the whole space. The handwriting was unfamiliar, yet he just knew it was from Blaine... _COURAGE._

* * *

_Courage._

Kurt beamed as though this was the first message he'd received today and not the seventh.

This note was written on parchment cut into a squiggly. The letters were written in an elegant emerald calligraphy, little confetti shapes dotted all around the script. It was stowed in an empty pencil bag with the others. Maybe he would make a collage out of them if he got enough.

All throughout the day random little words of courage (literally) continued cropping up. The second one had come in the morning by an unknown owl. The moment the parchment was removed from the owl's leg it had shot out the window and was gone.

The others so far had magically appeared out of thin air much like the first. All of them were decorated and written differently, and each one put a smile on his face and caused his stomach to flip pleasantly.

Everyone else had noticed this sudden shift in his attitude, not that he'd had a terrible attitude before, he was just much happier and less anxious. In the car he had actually participated in the glee conversation with Finn, then when Finn began a tirade on his Call of Duty game the previous night Kurt politely listened. At his locker when Rachel talked endlessly about her plans for the regionals they had yet to make it to, he wasn't once short with her and was only minimally sarcastic. Mercedes had been the first to actually say anything.

"I'm just in a good mood is all." He shrugged when Mercedes inquired about his cheerful disposition. She looked at him suspiciously after that.

It was the way everyone was reacting to his newfound optimism that really made him realize how down he'd been lately, then he felt guilty for the way he acted sometimes. It was wrong but it was hard not lash out whenever it felt like everything was going wrong. He made a vow to try to stop doing that lest he became a bully himself. Those things were such a viscous cycle that were easy to get sucked into.

Speaking of bullies, Karofsky passed by and slammed Kurt against the lockers forcefully, much more so than usual. Kurt was caught off guard and went falling to the floor while Karofsky walked off.

* * *

Kurt stared at himself in the bathroom mirror. It wasn't a pretty sight. Tears pooled in the corners of his eyes causing his vision to blur and his eyelids to puff up; they dried uncomfortably on his cheeks making the skin tighten and sting from the saltiness. His hair was mussed up from nervous hands running through it often. His lips were raw and cracked from vigorously rubbing them with a wet rag. Even now half an hour after the initial breakdown he still had the cloth running across his mouth.

_Confront him_. A little voice in his head had said.

Normally he ignored that voice in his mind that told him to stand up for himself, actually defend himself rather than verbally spar his bullies with a sharp witted tongue. It was easier to hide behind sarcasm and snark. Not today. He'd had enough. Which was why he had picked himself up, and completely disregarding his broken phone lying on the ground, he ran after the Karofosky. Within seconds he was hot on the jock's heels, bursting into the boy's locker where Dave had retreated.

After that kiss was stolen Kurt had stayed behind until Puck walked in and stared at him until he too left. He didn't see Dave after that. The rest of his classes and glee club came and went, he was so shocked the day flew by quickly. It wasn't until he was home that the shock wore off and the panic set in, hitting him like a freight train. A minor anxiety attack lead him to where he was now.

Looking at his reflection was depressing. It shoved how far he'd fallen since this morning right in his face.

Kurt wadded up some toilet paper and wiped his nose, then ran his face under ice cold water. Once all of the snot was gone and the blotchiness went down he finally left the bathroom and went to his room.

It wasn't so bad because he now held his bully's greatest secret, or that he lost his first kiss from a boy, but because of the fear and the uncertainty of what was to come. Would Dave leave him alone now? Would he be worse than ever? Kurt desperately wished that both of them could forget about the incident. It was a fool's hope, but the alternative was terrifying.

The only thing he was sure of at the moment was that he absolutely could not tell anybody about this. The adults in his life would take this to the school. The glee club members couldn't keep this to themselves and would insist he tell the adults. What he needed was a friend that he could just talk to about this, someone that would listen and keep his secrets; or at least if they told anyone it wouldn't matter...

A series of _T__aps_ resounded then was followed by a piercing _screech!_

Outside of the window the owl from that morning perched on the sill, and behind it Tony's owl Eleanor was staring at it intently as though glaring. Kurt opened the window and, who he presumed was Blaine's owl hopped in, followed by Eleanor who limped in. The first owl had an actual letter tied to her leg.

The first paragraph indeed clarified who the owner of this owl was.

_Kurt,_

_I hope you received the many letters - I spent much of last night printing them out by hand; only when Wes appeared did I realize magic was the speedier method. As a word of precaution__, do be wary of Minerva - the owl - she can be temperamental._

_How are you? How did everything go with the boy who was giving you a difficult time?_

Kurt's stomach dropped at the reminder, then he was thoughtful. He pulled out a parchment and ink and wrote out a quick letter.

* * *

"Thad, the dragon would win." Nick insisted for the hundredth time.

Thad looked disheartened. "Fine." He grumbled. "What about poltergeist versus pixie?"

Nick sighed and rubbed his temple. "Thad."

"What? It's a justifiable question!"

This was Thad and Nick's usual argument before classes: which magical creature would be victorious in a battle. Sometimes they would start bets or other students would join. Blaine trailed behind them, indifferently listening to them have at it. He was just glad that they came from magical families and had no idea what Pokémon was. That was something Blaine just wasn't prepared to deal with.

They turned the corner. Liam Omsen saw them and joined the group.

"Intense facial expressions, suggesting hostility." Liam noted. "What are these two arguing about now?"

"Pixie versus poltergeist." Blaine answered monotonously.

Liam's face lit up, something Blaine was wary of. "You know Hagrid just found a village of pixies on the edge of the forest..."

Nick and Thad stopped arguing and looked at Liam.

"We're listening."

As a prefect Blaine's sense of duty mixed with his loyalty to his friends told him to stop listening now before he heard something consequential. He tuned them out, choosing to count the cracks on the wall to pass the time. The other three paid no mind to him as they planned out an illegal cage match between Peeves and some forest pixies.

Thirty-two. Thirty-three. Thirty-four... Fifty-six...

He mentally tallied over a hundred then lost count, all before they finally neared the History of Magic classroom.

Across from the room, Blaine noticed, there was a window with an owl insistently pecking on the glass. While the others walked into class he diverged from the group, watching the creature curiously. It did not look familiar; then again, he couldn't expect to remember every owl that Hogwarts housed. Regardless, he decided to put the poor thing out of its misery, and hastened to allow it in. The creature hooted appreciatively as it hopped in. Blaine stroked its feathers, in response the owl presented its leg to him. He curiously untied the letter. The front of the envelope read _Blaine Anderson _in a neat, albeit shaky, scrawl. Before he could even find out who the sender was, the owl flew away. Blaine carefully pulled out the letter and unfolded it.

_This is from Kurt Hummel. _The letter said bluntly. _I'm sending this letter with my friends' owl, Eleanor, not my own. I did get your letters. Thank you so much. Your owl Minerva is beautiful._

Something was off. The sentences were short and choppy; the handwriting was blotted and unsteady, as though the writer's hand had been trembling as he wrote. This worried Blaine. He looked back down at the parchment. Near the bottom there were several blotches where the ink smeared and the material beneath was disturbed. He lightly ran his fingers ran across the parchment. It was either water stains or Kurt was crying while he wrote. Blaine apprehensively continued.

_I... I did confront Karofsy - the one who's been giving me trouble. I hate to dump all of this on you, but I don't know what else to do. Yesterday I followed him to the locker room and I confronted him, and we started yelling. Then he kissed me._

That had not been what he was expecting. He suspected conflict, or possibly a physical attack. A closeted jock had certainly never crossed his mind, but in hindsight it wasn't all that much of a shocking turn of events.

_I know I'm overreacting but I'm so confused and I don't know what to do. He didn't mess with me, or even acknowledge me the rest of the day, but it's only a matter of time. I just don't know what to do or how to act. I only hope he's too ashamed of his actions to come near me until I can figure this out. I'm sorry, is there some way we could talk I just need to talk about this._

_Bloody hell!_ It had been a full day since this had happened to Kurt! Even if there was no way the owl could have flown any faster, and no way he could have known, he felt guilty for not being there immediately, but more importantly responsible for this happening at all. It had been his advice that caused Kurt to confront this boy, which put him in a position of danger. Living in such a safe place like Hogwarts sometimes made him forget how dangerous these situations could be, particularly when magic couldn't be used as a last resort. He needed to make up for this somehow.

Blaine barely glanced toward the classroom where Binn's was likely already droning on, and sprinted down the corridor.

* * *

The dismissal bell rang and the McKinley halls flooded with students, Kurt among them.

Today he was dressed in black jeans, a plain t-shirt underneath a blue button up coat, and a grey and black circle scarf. He hadn't been feeling up to extravagant accessories or tight clothes when he dressed himself and was also hoping to just blend in with everyone else today. He kept his head down and spoke very little. He was lucky that Karofsky was nowhere to be seen. The jock was probably keeping a low profile as well. Kurt remained wary, knowing how quickly that could change. It was a pity that he had to spend his 'day off', so to speak, watching his back rather than enjoy it.

Right now Kurt had first lunch so he going to the cafeteria to meet up with Mercedes.

On the way down the math hall where the crowd was much thinner was where he saw _him_; A strange, yet familiar boy strolled down the hall with his hands in his pockets, taking in his surroundings curiously. From the back Kurt could see the he boy had on a bright red sweater, cuffed dark blue skinny jeans, and deck shoes to match the pants. His dark hair was gelled down and he carried a leather messenger bag.

Normally Kurt would have ignored some new kid. Whether it be from his recent experiences as the lost 'new kid', the unknown familiarity, or the odd clothes this boy wore, he couldn't look away. Against his better judgment he wandered closer. The boy abruptly looked behind him directly at Kurt. Kurt quickly averted his eyes out of habit, he'd undoubtedly been caught staring. He pretended to be looking at a bulletin board and could _feel _the boy's eyes on him. A brief glance up told him that the guy was indeed staring at him and...

"Blaine?" He asked.

Blaine Anderson slowly walked toward him, he looked as dapper as ever if not a little disheveled. There was dark ash clinging to his cardigan soiling it along with traces of green powder. Floo powder.

"Your owl arrived only an hour ago, I came as soon as I read it." Blaine said quickly.

Kurt didn't have a clue why Blaine was talking about birds, but he at least got the gist of it and understood Blaine was here because of him. He immediately began rambling, "Oh my - You really didn't have to. It's ten on a - You should be at school! I'm not -"

"Kurt, relax." Blaine placed a hand on either side of his shoulders, a soothing gesture. "It's fine, and don't worry about school. Time difference remember?"

"Yes, but -"

Blaine cut him off. "Are you okay?"

Kurt was confused for a minute, wondering again what he was talking about.

"After the Karofsky issue?" He clarified.

It took a second to figure out how Blaine knew about the kiss in the locker room. Then it hit him... the letter. He had completely forgot that he even owled Blaine, he'd been so emotionally distressed when he wrote him. After finishing the rest of Blaine's letter, which was light and funny, he'd calmed down significantly. Now he felt foolish for dumping his problems on this boy.

Kurt blushed and looked down at his feet. "Oh, um..."

"Hey, It's okay. I came here to help you. I thought that we could speak to this guy. It's obvious that he's struggling with himself, and we should let him know that he's not alone."

If he were being honest, he really didn't care about Karofsky's identity issues and after yesterday he certainly didn't want to be anywhere near the boy. If it were anyone else Kurt wouldn't hesitate in saying no. However this was Blaine, the boy that helped _him_, a total stranger, more than once; that didn't turn him in for trespassing, who was sweet and was currently wearing the most optimistic expression.

Kurt sighed. "I doubt it will work, but I suppose it's worth a shot."

"I won't let him hurt you this time, I promise." Blaine said sincerely.

"Thank you for coming." Kurt said in a small voice.

Blaine looked around at the many passing students, curiosity alight in his eyes. "Come on, let's go find this bully."

Together they walked across the courtyard toward the stairs. Kurt had seen Karofsky walk this way to class many times. Part of him hoped that he was mistaken, or since he had yet to see the jock he wasn't even at school. The braver side of him wanted to get this dealt with now. Most of all he didn't want Blaine to see him as a waste of time, and would hate to have had the boy come all the way out here for nothing.

Kurt clutched his bag tightly. "Thanks for coming again."

"Don't worry about it, just let me do the talking."

They walked around the corner and Karofsky was there at the top of the stairs

"There he is." Kurt whispered.

"I got your back." Blaine told him, then said loudly, "Excuse me."

They stopped right in front of Karofsky, blocking his path. He looked between the two.

"Hey, ladyboys. This your boyfriend, Kurt?" He scoffed.

Kurt's cheeks heated up and his heart pounded, but he refused to look away. Refused to back down.

"Kurt and I would like to talk to you about something." Blaine said tactfully.

Karofsky gave a good tough act, sneering and scoffing at them, but Kurt noted the faintest sign of fear in his eyes. Hopefully it would be enough to keep him from doing anything regrettable.

"I gotta go to class." Karofsky pushed past them, shoving Kurt against the railing for good measure.

In a desperate attempt to not let him get away so easily, what Blaine said next was not so prudent. "Kurt told me what you did." Blaine clearly wasn't thinking about the consequences when he just went for it like that. For him this would be one of those moments where he would look back at night and cringe. Which was what Kurt was doing now.

Karofsky slowly spun around. "Oh, yeah? What's that?" He asked nonchalantly.

"You kissed me."

Dave glanced around nervously."I don't know what you're talking about."

"It seems like you might be a little confused. And that's totally normal." Blaine spoke very diplomatically, his voice even and sure. Karofsky began walking away. "This is a very hard thing to come to terms with, and you should just know that you're not alone."

The jock froze, then darted back up the steps heading straight for Blaine. "Do not mess with me!" He snarled, pushing the Gryffindor against the railing. Blaine held his hands up defensively, more of a gesture of peace than submission. Blaine didn't even look affected by the situation at all, the only reason Kurt knew this to be false was the way his jaw was working furiously.

Kurt rushed forward and pushed the jock away from Blaine with all his might. "You have to stop this!"

Karofsky stumbled backward, catching himself before he could fall. A group of students passed, not even throwing so much as a curious glance their way.

"Pfft, whatever." Karofsky cast one last disgusted look between the other two boys and then turned on his heel and stalked off.

Kurt let out the breath he'd been holding and dropped onto the stairs.

This was awful. He had only meant to confront his bullies and now he had gotten Blaine stuck in the middle of this! He probably wouldn't even want to be his friend anymore, not after this. If he were paying attention, he would have noticed that Blaine couldn't care less that he had just been physically harassed. Blaine's mind was more focused on how he could make this okay.

Blaine leaned back against the railing. His eyes traveled upward in thought along with his triangular eyebrows.

"Well, he's not coming out any time soon." Blaine joked weakly, dusting himself off and adjusting his blazer. Noticing the look on Kurt's face all traces of humor disappeared. "What's going on? Why are you so upset?" He moved to sit next to Kurt.

Kurt closed his eyes and drew in a shaky breath. "Because until yesterday, I had never been kissed. Or at least, one that counted." He admitted. His ears turned a deep red. He probably shouldn't feel ashamed to admit that since there obviously wouldn't be much to choose from in a place like Lima. He just felt disgusting and violated.

Blaine pressed his lips together as he thought of how to make this better. This situation was a first for him. So he did what he always did to make his friends feel better. "Come on. I'll buy you lunch."

Blaine took him to the parking lot. They walked all the way to the back where the only available parking spots were and stopped in front of a vintage convertible. To Kurt's surprise Blaine pulled out car keys. There were so many things he wanted to ask this strange boy but he held his tongue. Blaine unlocked the car and got in, indicating Kurt do the same. Neither said anything until the school was out of sight.

"Do you need to talk about it?" Blaine asked, his eyes shifting between the road and Kurt.

Kurt looked down at his lap and fiddled with fingers. "I don't know. I feel like I'm making this a bigger deal than it really is, but I just feel lost. What do I do next?" He looked to the boy who seemingly had all of the answers.

Blaine sighed. "I'd like to tell you exactly what to do, but I don't know either. I've had my fair share of bullies and closet cases, but I've never had to deal with anyone who was both. I'm not sure what one _can _do in this situation."

"Then give me general advice, at this point I'll take anything."

Blaine chuckled. "Okay, _generally_ with people still in the closet, there isn't much you can do besides support them or out them I suppose,"

Kurt shook his head emphatically, staring back down again. Over the past day he'd thought hard on this. It would probably be the easy way out but it was wrong and he wouldn't go that far. "I won't ever do that."

They came up on a red-light and stopped. Kurt looked up at Blaine who was watching him almost reverently. Instead of blushing and looking away he held Blaine's gaze. Blaine finally smiled, then the light turned green and he had to turn back to the road.

The Gryffindor cleared his throat. "Okay, then there really isn't much you could do for Karofsky, unless you want to try reaching out again."

"I won't out him, but I don't think I'm there yet."

Blaine nodded understandingly. "So then you treat him like a bully. I suggest staying away from him or if you can't, avoid being alone with him." His face turned serious. "I understand that you don't want to tell anyone about the kiss and I get that the school won't do much for playground bullying, but if he ever threatens your safety Kurt I want you to promise me that you will tell somebody. Me at least."

Kurt nodded, then was quickly pulled back into his own head. His mind was plagued by doubt and worry, then by the _what if's _and uncertainty.

"Why is this so frustrating!" He blurted out.

"What is?"

Kurt didn't answer immediately. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the head rest, trying to calm the war raging inside of himself. Blaine sensed his distress. He pulled into the nearest parking lot, which happened to be that of an old K-Mart, now empty.

"Blaine I'm a gay muggle-born wizard living in Muggleville, Ohio, I can't take it anymore. I've accepted that I'm gay and I can't change it, but maybe I should just renounce my magic or something."

Blaine's eyes widened. "Kurt, please don't say that. I - I know it's hard but things will get better I promise."

"How do you know?" He snapped. He immediately regretted it. Blaine was being nothing but honest and patient with him, it wasn't Blaine's fault Kurt was having such a bad time.

Kurt took a deep, calming breath. "I'm sorry. I just - I - I don't want things to _get_ better, I want them to _be_ better."

"Kurt, I was in the same place a few years ago. My father knew about the Wizarding World, as my mother's family was part of it, but he didn't understand it. My mother is a squib, she had to tell him about magic when my brother came along. My father thought that you could renounce your magic, he thought that my mother just gave it up. He never explicitly said anything, but I know he wanted me to do the same. Sometimes I even considered it. Eventually he got me a tutor. I never thought I could actually be a functioning part of any magical society. Now, I'm really glad I didn't give up."

"It just sucks. I mean it's been so much easier since I told my dad, but no one else knows. If I didn't have to hide I could've defended myself. I had my wand!"

"It won't be like that forever, when you grow up you can join the Wizarding World and be amazing."

"But what if I can't? My only exposure is limited. What if I can't assimilate and I just don't fit in anywhere?"

"Hmm. Then I guess we'll just have to fix that. Half a moment." Blaine stretched out so that he could reach into his pocket. He pulled a galleon from it. Silence filled the car while Kurt got lost in his thoughts and Blaine fiddled with the gold coin. He appeared to be reading its surface. "Oh good!" He exclaimed.

"What's that?" Kurt tried to get a closer look at the coin but it was already being tucked .

"I've just thought of the perfect lunch spot." The Gryffindor grinned, and started the car again.

Kurt had the foresight to send a quick text to Finn telling him to drive Kurt's car home. He had taken Finn to school again, and Finn had a spare key so he would be able to get himself home alright.

After a bit of driving Blaine finally pulled into what looked like an ordinary bar. Kurt eyed his companion doubtfully as they walked toward the entrance. If Blaine noticed he gave no indication, remaining cheerful and smiley. Blaine lead him by the hand into the dingy bar, stopping in front of a fireplace. Evidently this was a wizard bar, or it at least had floo connections. Kurt went with the former, noting a hag in the corner drinking something bright pink. Kurt turned his attention back to Blaine, giving him a curious look.

"Do you trust me?" Blaine asked.

"Should I not?"

Blaine laughed. "I'm taking you to Hogsmeade, the Hogs Head to be exact. It's right outside the school."

Blaine made an after you gesture. Kurt stepped into the fireplace and accepted the floo powder.

"Hogs Head!" Kurt said and was engulfed by the flames.

Kurt, coughing loudly, stumbled out of the grate and into an even dingier looking pub. The bar ten feet away was empty and there were only a handful of people scattered around. Soon Blaine popped out and brushed himself off.

"Come on." Blaine grabbed his hand again and led him out.

Outside was very similar to Bree with the exception of many students wearing Hogwarts uniforms. Obviously they weren't far from the school. Kurt looked up and his breath caught, sure enough an enormous castle stood against tall against the backdrop of snow-capped mountains and a great lake.

"Is that Hogwarts?" Kurt asked breathlessly.

"Yep. Amazing isn't it?"

"In all the years I've known about magic I never thought it would actually be this - magical."

"I know what you mean. I still take walks around the grounds and get awestruck."

Blaine allowed Kurt to stare at the beautiful castle.

"So where's this lunch I've been promised?" Kurt finally asked.

Blaine tugged him into another pub called the Three Broomsticks. The atmosphere was much livelier than the first. Many students were chattering merrily with friends, sipping delicious looking drinks and munching on candy from the nearby sweets shop.

"I was going to meet some friends here, I think you've already met a few."

Near the back a particularly rowdy group of boys sat at a booth around a circular table. All of them were sipping some golden liquid from kegs.

"Oy! Blaine!" One of the blondes called.

Blaine lead Kurt over to the table

"Hey guys." Blaine took a seat next to David and motioned Kurt to sit.

Kurt took the seat beside Blaine on the booth.

"This is Kurt Hummel."

"Ah, so this is the infamous spy." A boy with dirty blonde hair and a crooked smile said, exchanging a look with the others.

The two boys sitting on the left, outside end of the semicircle, grinned at one another, then stood up and sat down next Kurt, forcing the others to scoot over to make more room. Kurt moved as well, but the boy beside him, a different blonde than the one who had called them over, stayed pressed up close, his face invading Kurt's personal bubble.

"I'm Jeff." The blonde introduced himself.

Kurt looked uncomfortable.

"Relax," Jeff said. "We don't care much. Well other than the fact that you, my friend," he wrapped his left arm around Kurt. "Were the first to penetrate the impenetrable Hogwarts since the dark days." Jeff pulled his wand out and waved it above himself, conjuring a top hat that landed on his head. "To you, I take my hat off." He did so with a flourish.

The brunette on the Jeff's right rolled his eyes. He stretched behind Jeff and tugged his arm off Kurt, then kept his own arm around Jeff's shoulders

"Don't mind him. He's one for theatrics. I'm Nick." The brunette boy reached over the blonde with his free hand, and shook Kurt's.

Blaine rolled his eyes at the pair. "So you've met these two... You already know David," Kurt nodded. "And the other blonde - next to David - is Oliver."

Oliver waved. "God dag. Vad trevligt att träffas."

David playfully shoved the boy. "Ignore him. He just likes to show off what little Swedish he knows."

"Where's Wes?" Blaine asked, looking around.

"He's off with his girlfriend."

"And you aren't?"

David shook his head. "I'd much rather hang out with _you_ Blaine." He said this teasingly, but also threw Blaine a _'we're talking later'_ look that Kurt didn't catch.

"Aww, I'm touched."

Blaine left the table to get he and Kurt something to eat. The other three - Nick, Oliver, and Jeff - continued their previous conversation about an incident that happened at the school last week. Kurt listened in complete fascination, every now and again interrupting to ask a question. The boys were incredibly nice to him and seemed like a decent lot. Kurt quickly forgot about the Karofsky incident and enjoyed himself. All too quickly Blaine was insisting that Kurt should get back to Ohio, much to the chagrin of both Kurt and the Hogwarts boys.

Nick and Jeff reluctantly slid it off the booth so that Kurt and Blaine could get out.

As soon as Kurt stood up Jeff wrapped him in a tight hug, once Kurt got over the initial shock he awkwardly patted the blonde's back.

"Remember the name Jeff, Jeff Sterling. I expect to hear from you." Jeff said sternly, stepping back.

David, Oliver, and Nick all soon his hand and said goodbye, much less dramatically, and then Blaine was leading Kurt toward to the door.

"My friends." Blaine chuckled once they were out of the pub.

"You're lucky to have them, they're great." Kurt said honestly.

Blaine smiled. "Yeah, overwhelming from time to time, but I love them to death... sometimes literally."

"I can see where you might want to with Oliver."

Blaine snorted. "And he's the tame one."

"He has a twin brother, Liam." Blaine explained.

"And where was he? Don't twins like, always follow each other around?"

"Not necessarily. And these two have a rather, er, unique dynamic. Besides, I'm pretty sure Liam is serving community service in the Great Hall. We have him to thank for having today off."

"I think I'll wait to hear about that story."

Kurt pulled his light jacket around himself tighter. For September it was very chilly there, even for that time in the evening. Kurt internally groaned, he had been trying not to think of the time. He would deal with the consequences later.

"Anyway," Blaine said, breaking the silence. "The guys seemed to really like you."

Kurt couldn't keep the broad grin from lighting up his face. "Really?"

"I suspect if I weren't a prefect and Wes wasn't Head boy, they'd kidnap you and have you live at Hogwarts."

Kurt stared at the castle wistfully. "I don't think I could really complain about that."

"Until you actually live there. It looks like a beautiful magic castle on the outside, don't let it trick you. It can be a nightmare." Blaine was thoughtful. "Though I guess it's nothing to the way it was about fifteen years ago."

"What happened?" Naturally he, along with the rest of the Magical World, has read the stories about the Wizarding Wars, and knew bits and pieces of what got out about Harry's time at the school, but Blaine made it seem like be was missing something.

Blaine looked at Kurt. "I'd forgotten how little Wizarding America really knows about the War, especially for someone who didn't grow up in it."

"I guess I'll have to visit again, if only to hear more stories." He pretended to sigh.

Blaine playfully swatted him. "I'll tell the guys you're only in it for the secrets."

Kurt held the Hog's Head for open for Blaine, then walked through himself. They stopped in front of the fireplace

"Well I guess -"

"Don't even think about it Kurt. I'm coming with you."

Kurt raised an eyebrow.

"Don't give me that look. Taking you back home is the gentlemanly thing to do."

* * *

It probably would have been much simpler for Kurt to floo directly back to his house from Hogsmeade, but then he would run the risk of his family seeing him appear from the fireplace. Besides he really liked spending time with Blaine and he wasn't about to intentionally end their time together.

The ride from the bar to Lima was fun. They ended the serious, sad talk for the time being and enjoyed themselves. Kurt learned that along with their shared bully experiences and sexuality they had so much more in common. At first Blaine allowed Kurt to look through his iPod for music, a huge sign of trust in Kurt's book. Kurt was then pleasantly surprised to see the music selection; Patti LuPone, Barbara Streisand, the Rent soundtrack, West Side Story, then some more popular tunes such as Brittany Spears, Katy Perry, and P!nk.

The song Kurt chose somehow sparked a debate on how Les Misérables as a movie would compare to the play, which in turn prompted a discussion on actors who would be good for certain roles. Each topic quickly led to more. They continued on like this for this for the rest of the ride.

Too quickly for his liking they were pulling into Kurt's driveway.

"Sorry about missing school." Blaine said sincerely. "I always forget the time changes."

"It's okay. I had a lot of fun today. Thank you Blaine."

"No problem."

Kurt took that as his queue to leave, he sadly unbuckled his seatbelt, and got out of the car.

Today had been one of the greatest days of his life. He got to meet actual teenage wizards. Before he'd seen plenty in Bree, but had never had the opportunity to actually talk to them. Getting to just look at Hogwarts was enough, he could truly die happy now. He was sad to see the day and Blaine go. Sure they talked and joked about meeting up in the future, but now he realized how unrealistic all of that seemed.

"I'm sorry about the inconvenience."

"It's really not a problem." Blaine said sternly. "Besides, I might get to see my parents when I go to Westerville to drop the car off."

"Westerville?"

"I never mentioned that? I live in Ohio, only about two hours from here."

Kurt's mouth dropped open. "Really?"

Blaine nodded.

Kurt really shouldn't have been as surprised as he was. It hadn't even crossed his mind all day why Blaine seemed so familiar with Ohio. That would explain how Blaine had a car and his American accent.

"I'll see you later Kurt."

Kurt whispered back, "See you later Blaine."

He shut the car door and walked up the driveway, turning back to wave farewell. Blaine waved back with a huge grin, then pulled out and was gone.

A girly, happy squeal threatened to erupt from Kurt's mouth. He had just didn't the day with the most dreamy, nicest, funniest wizard and his friends from Hogwarts, and there was a very real possibility that he would be seeing him again.

Kurt walked through the front door in such a daze, he didn't even notice his father waiting for him by the cleared his throat loudly making Kurt start.

"Oh hello daddy,"

"Uh huh." Burt crossed his arms, a signal Kurt knew, that meant he was serious. "Care to tell me where you've been? School's been over for over an hour, and before you try to use glee club as an excuse Finn said it was cancelled."

"How do you know I didn't go out with Mercedes?"

"Because she called asking for you."

"She would've called my cellphone."

"It doesn't matter. This is the second time you've disappeared this week."

"I could have been with Rachel." Kurt mumbled.

"_Kurt_." Burt said warningly.

"I went out to eat with a friend."

"Which friend?" His father pressed.

"You don't know Blaine." Kurt said quickly.

"Blaine?

* * *

Eighty-five miles per hour.

At that speed Blaine would arrive in Westerville just before six, nearly eleven o'clock Scottish time. There was no way he would make it back to school before curfew, but if he hurried he might be able to get back to Gryffindor tower before midnight.

Blaine felt a bit like Cinderella, having to be home before midnight. His car wouldn't turn into a pumpkin at midnight, but if Wes caught him, _he_ might be transformed into a rat. With that line of thought he succumbed to the urge to sing songs from the Disney classic the rest of the way.

Looking back, there was nothing stranger than a sixteen year old boy flying his '73 MG Midget over Ohio, while singing Disney at the top of his lungs.

Five minutes outside Westerville he lowered the flying car into a secluded street, and carefully drove the rest of the way, invisible. At the Anderson's house, he clicked the garage door button - opening on its own accord, it probably looked strange - and drove in. He waited until the door was firmly shut again, before pushing the button that made it visible again.

Blaine continued humming the tune to 'Bippity, Boppity, Boop' as he walked through the garage, and into the wash room.

"Blaine, is that you?"

Blaine's shoulders drooped.

He had hoped that if he had to run into anyone, it would be his mother.

He plastered on his usual charming smile, and walked into the kitchen. Charles Anderson was seated at the bar, legs crossed, reading the newspaper.

"What are you doing home?" He frowned. "Shouldn't you be in a different country?"

Blaine licked his lips, only hesitating for a second. "You know what? I just couldn't resist coming back here... To take my baby out for a spin." He gestured around. "Before you say anything, I just - I've waited so long, ever since we rebuilt the old thing -" Blaine spoke with his hands, making an odd, scrunched up face.

"Blaine, stop."

Blaine dropped his hands immediately.

_I'm in trouble. _He thought.

Instead of giving the disappointment speech, Charles smiled. "You don't have to explain yourself. I remember when I got my first car, I slept in it for a week. It's hard to part with them."

"That's nice, dad."

"So?" His father prompted. "Have you named her yet?"

"Uh, oh... Y-yeah. Thought of it while driving."

Blaine looked off to the side for inspiration. The only thing he saw was the blue curtain on the kitchen window and yellow walls. Picking his brains he was able to come up with, "Evelyn!"

"Have you taken a picture to show your friends?"

"Yeah, they're all jealous. They don't get their flying carpet licence until they're seventeen." Blaine deadpanned.

Charles chuckled. "You'll have to bring them over sometime to see her."

"Well it's Tuesday, I really should get going. Time difference and all." Blaine supplied, pointing to his watch.

He was again slapped by his own immediacy to leave: Time difference, curfew... Wes.

"Can't you stay for dinner. Your mother will be gone soon. She'll be upset she missed you."

"I'm really sorry dad. I'll come home this weekend, I promise."

"You might want to leave the room, I need to use the..." Blaine groaned at fireplace.

Charles sighed heavily. "I'm used to it. Go on, but I'm holding you to your word."

The last thing Blaine thought before he was sucked into nothingness was, _'How the hell did I manage to get the guys invited over?'_

Seconds later, hundreds of miles away he appeared in the Hog's Head. Luckily the place didn't close until midnight and the owner was very old. Blaine sprinted across the town and into Honeydukes, barely making it in before the door magically closed itself.

"Cutting it close Blaine!" A voice chuckled.

Blaine sent a charming smile over to the owner of the candy store.

He had once done a favor for the owners of the place and was good friends with their daughter, so as long as he was in before the doors sealed themselves, the owners let him use the passageway in the basement.

Mrs Lynch swatted him with her cleaning rag as he passed by. Blaine jumped aside, laughing.

"Goodnight Anderson!"

"'Night Mrs Lynch."

In the passageway he sprinted all the way through, which was by no means an easy feat. By the time he reached the stone steps that led up to the statue exit, he was out of breath and clutching a side stitch. He still had to run across several floors, all the while avoiding Peeves, prefects, professors, and one Wesley Montgomery. _(Oh my!)_ The Fat Lady wouldn't be a problem so long as he made it before midnight. A few years previously the Gryffindor's cut a deal with her: They wouldn't leave before four in the morning, and they couldn't wake her after midnight.

He ran up to her portrait, a few asthma attacks past out of breath.

"Alohomora." He wheezed.

The Fat Lady dutifully swung forward.

"Cutting it a little close there Blaine." A voice said in a tone much less pleasant than Mrs. Lynch.

Blaine froze. The recliner by the fire spun around, revealing David with his arms and legs crossed, and an unpleasant expression. That meant bad things.

"And by that I mean, five minutes later and it would be tomorrow. You missed curfew by, hmm," David pretended to check his watch. "Over two hours."

Apparently David was playing the role of frantic mother tonight. It was unlikely he would let Blaine off very easily.

"I'm sorry David, but it's really not your business."

"Not my business? So the last three years, every time you and the other idiots got into trouble, I could have just said, 'Well it's not my business' and went on my merry way? Left you people to solve your problems?"

"David that's not what I meant."

"I don't care. The fact is I've been waiting for you, wondering if you were dead or if you needed help."

"Merlin's pants," Liam said groggily, standing at the foot of the stairs and rubbing his eyes.

"We could hear you all the way through the dorm enchantments." Jeff appeared behind Liam, along with Nick, Thad, Oliver, and Dwight.

"Why are you yelling?" Asked Oliver.

"Blaine is _just now_ coming back."

Dwight's eyes bugged out. "Bloody wizards." He muttered, walking back to the dorms.

The others, used to his strange behavior after years, ignored him.

"He's been Godric knows where, doing -"

"Give him a break." Interupted Oliver. "He hasn't broken any rules since last year."

"Oh, well congratulations on going a whole twenty days!"

The boys rolled their eyes while David continued on the rant.

"How many times are you people going to break these rules put in place for your safety? How many times before you start acting a little more responsibly? Why -"

"Have you and Wes been having sex?"

David stopped talking and everyone's head whipped around to Jeff.

"Because I swear you're like, one person." He yawned.

"That doesn't -"

Oliver giggled. "I hope you're using protection, you wouldn't want to get pregnant while you're on your man-period."

"_Wes_? You're lucky Wes didn't come up here tonight." David muttered, brushing past them, and disappearing into the sixth year boy's dormitory.

"It's not like Wes would have turned you in if he had." Thad assured, briefly gripping his shoulder, then walked after David.

"Don't be too hard on him." Nick said. "He's just worried. I think he has a right to be after what happened last year... And the year before that."

Blaine had to give him that.

* * *

Laying in bed that night, just thinking about everything that had happened made Kurt's stomach swooped joyously. He hadn't had such a delightful day in a very long time.

Though he was tired after such a long day he found it difficult to sleep. Every so often he had to look over at the pile of letters from Blaine just to remind himself that it did happen. He also kept turning a tiny piece of paper over in his hands, it was now so handled that it was getting soft and crinkled. The paper was a brief note from Jeff that he had found in his pocket not long after arriving back home. It read:

_Hello mate. Remember Jeff Sterling ;)_

Jeff must have slipped it in there when he was inappropriately close. There were many times that day so Kurt couldn't exactly pinpoint when that might have been.

Eventually exhaustion won out over excitement. His eyes drooped shut and the events of the day danced across his eyelids making him grin. That night he dreamt of magic; not what he had come to know magic as it truly was - testing, secrecy, hard studying, more secrets - but of the stuff of faery tales where a handsome night with dark curly hair and deep honey eyes swept him away on a giant lion.

* * *

**A/N****: That was a monster! ****Thank you to everyone who is reading!**

**What did you like? What don't you like? What do you want to see? Are you excited? Is this humorous or boring? Is there anything in here that really just pissed you off and you want to rant about it? Go for it.**

**I'd also like to apologize for OCs. I know they can be annoying, but I avoid them unless I need them.**


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